Sexual Immorality: A National Disgrace!

Nothing destroys a nation faster than sexual immorality and lawlessness!

Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!

Fred R. Coulter—August 8, 2018

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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! I've got to read this to you:

Teacher Fails Entire Class Then Explains Why The Jackson Press (April 20, 2018)

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on this plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A… (substituting grades for dollars – something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.
As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.
These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

• You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.
• What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.
• The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.
• You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

It's like saying you can't go up by going down, unless you are at the South Pole and you turn to the north.

• When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Voila! Venezuela!

That's why everything God says do with all your might, be diligent to do!See those who work hard, want to work hard because there's a greater reward. That's fine, and it should be that way. We all have human life. So, in that sense we're all equal because we have human life and all human beings have free moral agency.

But God is not a communist or socialist. Too many people are missing the point: the kids in the schools are being taught socialism right from the get-go! That's why there's so many supposedly embracing it. We'll see what happens. We'll see what happens with some of these things.

So someone might say well you find socialism in Acts 2 and up through the 5th chapter. because they sold things and pooled it together. They did that because all those who came from the Diaspora were staying in Jerusalem, because a lot of them thought that the Kingdom of God was going to come pretty quickly. That's why they were there doing that; but it didn't continue beyond that.

So, for people to say that Christianity started communism, no it didn't! That was for an emergency. That's kind of like when you have a lot of people get together and are staying longer than they expect to stay, then you have to do something because they need to eat, they need to sleep, all these things need to take.

Keeping the faith: Americans are less likely to go to church, but most still believe in God, survey says by Valerie Bauman, August 1, 2018 {http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6017067/Keeping-faith-Americans-likely-church-believe-God.html}

That's why we have Church at Home {churchathome.org} And there's quite a study on it. So, we'll build the building; help them at home.

There's a report out that what some scientists are doing now is trying to get aborted baby parts as quickly as they can after abortion and feed them to mice so they can help develop human genes within the mice that can be used to advance human life.

Now, you think of that; look at everything else going on, so let's see what is happening and how it's taking place. The book of Revelation and Matt.24 will probably have the most references of any, but Matt. 24 is very interesting. As we have covered going through it Matt. 24, with the exception of the abomination that makes desolate, all of these things are cyclical. They rise they fall they become more intense they subside.

But one thing that always causes societies to collapse is lawlessness! The closest you can look at that right now is Venezuela. Lawlessness is causing great things to happen. It originates with prophets:

• there are political prophets
• there are religious prophets
• there are true prophets
• there are false prophets

Matthew 24:11: "And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many… [you can apply that politically, religiously, etc.] …and because lawlessness shall be multiplied…" (vs 11-12). Increasing, increasing, increasing and that's what we have with these sort of things going on!

How is it that they have come to the point that they want to claim it's a woman's right to take care of her body? That's true it's a woman's right to take her body, but it's not her right to commit adultery and say she doesn't have to pay for it, and say there are no consequences for it. And for the state to come along and say. 'We'll take away the consequences by providing abortion.' Once she becomes pregnant, it's no longer her body alone!

• Is that another body?
• Is that another human being?

The best way to handle it with all of those who have this lawlessness in mind is to say:

• What if your mother aborted you?
• you want freedom of speech
• you want freedom of choice

if you would've been aborted you wouldn't have any that

• How do you like that?

If that's what you do, then you're participating in lawlessness and the sins of the worst kind come out of that.

Verse 14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come."

We will see in Jeremiah where it's not just Israel, it's not just Judah, it's not just the nations that are listed as receiving the prophecy from God in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so forth, it's all nations on the face of the earth!

What tears down a nation faster than anything else? Sexual immorality! Remember that all the laws in the Old Testament, IF followed by a physical nation today, would bring blessings to that nation! You go on churchathome.org—Come Out of Her My People—a short thing about the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments were created by God so human beings could have contact with God and get along with each other. Whenever you break the first four commandments, you cut yourself off from God! Whenever you mess around with the last six, and actually #5—honor father and mother—is the focal point right between. So, I started out with Perfectville, #5 in the series on Church at Home. How would you like to live in Perfectville?

If you live in the area where they have a lot of crime how would you like to move someplace where there's no crime? No locks on the door. The only policeman you have is a constable to help kind of keep the peace. Everybody watches out for everyone.

• No murder!
• No adultery!

and that's all sexual immorality

• No stealing!
• No lying!
• No coveting!

They would say, 'Yes, I would like to live there. But would you be willing to do that? Because there's one other requirement that would have to be implemented for everyone if they were to live in Perfectville! They would have to renounce all their religious beliefs and believe in God the Father and Jesus Christ and keep the first four commandments! The Sabbath will keep you in contact with God. Then the Holy Days will tell you what he's doing.

Likewise, Lev. 18 is an expansion on you shall not commit adultery.

Sidebar: The King James says for the 6th commandment you shall not kill. That's an incorrect translation. The Catholics have it that way, too. It is you shall not murder, because God shows that executing the excessively wicked is the only way you control it from developing into lawlessness. But once you have lawlessness in sexual morality then you have great problems in the society.

Leviticus 18:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "I am the LORD your God…. [whenever God says that He means business; coming direct from Him] …As they do in the land of Egypt where you dwelt, you shall not do. And you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Neither shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall do My judgments and keep My ordinances, and walk in them. I am the LORD your God"'" (vs 1-4).

I've never done a survey but maybe someone could do that and let me know on how many times God says, 'I am the Lord your God.' I think we'll find it into the hundreds of times in the whole Bible.

Verse 5: "And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am the LORD." Nothing wrong with living within the Law!

The big problem with Judaism is that Judaism conflates all of their traditions with the first five books of the Bible and call it Torah. Their traditions are not Torah, Torah means law.

Then the Protestants go one step further and say they don't have to keep any of the laws of the Old Testament. Why then do you keep some of them? 'Well they are good for us.' Show me which ones are not good for us! First one they'll turn to will be the Sabbath. They all know which day is the Sabbath; there is no question!

Like one man asked his Protestant minister before he left, 'Why don't we keep the Sabbath?' Well, that's not just for us today! If you tell a carnal-minded person that, they will say that's reasonable. After all, life keeps improving—doesn't it? Are we improved?

Verse 6: "None of you shall approach to any who are near of kin to him to uncover their nakedness. I am the LORD." That means to get engaged sexually!

Then it covers the whole family: father, mother, brother, sister, daughter, cousins, aunts, uncles, and so forth. Then he talks about man shall not lie with man as with the woman, nor shall a woman lie down before a beast.

Verse 24: "Do not defile yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations, which I cast out before you, are defiled." Sexual immorality affects everything:

• your mind
• your emotions
• your health
• your loyalty
• your decision-making
• the children that are brought into the world
• those who are aborted and not brought into the world

That's why God says, 'I am the Lord your God!'

"…for in all these the nations, which I cast out before you, are defiled. And the land is defiled...." (vs 24-25).

It says in Jer. 23 that 'tears ran down Jeremiah because of all the adultery and things going on and the wilderness is burning'; it's on fire. Hello, California!

• What's going on in California?
• What are you doing with all the crazy perversions that you claim are normal when they're all lawlessness?

Verse 25: "And the land is defiled. Therefore, I visit its wickedness against it, and the land itself vomits out those who live in it…. [How does God do that?] …You shall, therefore, keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither the native, nor any stranger that lives among you; for the men of the land who were before you have done all these abominations, and the land is defiled" (vs 25-27).

The ultimate result is Sodom and Gomorrah! Remember, it wasn't just Sodom and Gomorrah, there were two other cities that were destroyed as well! Why? Because they were 'get along/go along.' So, they're gone!

Verse 28: "You shall not do these so that the land may not spew you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you."

• What's going to happen?
• How's it going to be?

Verse 29: "For whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls who commit them shall be cut off from among their people."

Why? They will be automatically separated from God dealing with those that he deals with if these things are done! It applies to everybody everywhere at all times in all generations right down to our day.

Verse 30: "And you shall keep My ordinance, so as not to do any of these abominable customs, which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves in them. I am the LORD your God."

There are two things that once the lawlessness reaches a certain point, you're never going to stop: idolatry and sexual immorality! Everything else hinges on those.

Leviticus 19:29: "You shall not prostitute your daughter to cause her to be a whore, lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness."

• Is our land for wickedness?
• Do we have a lot of difficult things happening?
• Are our forests burning to the ground?
• Is the rain withheld from heaven?

Yes, climate does change because of sin!Stopping emissions of carbon dioxide[transcriber's correction], CO2,--carbon monoxide is waste—isn't going to cure the problem. It's the behavior of the people, that is the reason for it!

Verse 30: "You shall keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary. I am the LORD."

That's one of the keys to morality and getting rid of lawlessness, keeping the Sabbath! Think of how many activities you are not involved in and all the young people of the land are not involved in when they keep the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday! An awful lot! And if you don't:

Verse 31: "You shall not turn to those that have familiar spirits, nor seek after mediums to be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God."

All of those are there for our instruction and obedience to it!

One man wrote an e-mail that says, 'I have two wives, can I come to your Feast site?' The New Testament says, 'One man/one woman and when the marriage vows are given they are vows, and it's a covenant.' It doesn't say only in good times, but you can leave when they're bad; only if we are always happy. It doesn't say you can leave if you have difficulties and problems. You have to stick with it. That's part of developing character and understanding!

Jer. 18 is something that if they would read the Old Testament in the Protestant churches they would understand what is going in the world. Some of them do, and they come to a certain point. That's absolutely correct.

Jeremiah 18:1: "The Word, which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.' Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he was working at his wheel" (vs 1-3).

Have you ever seen how the potter does that? They get a certain rhythm with their feet and they get a certain speed. They have to have the clay just right, just the right amount of water, and just right amount of speed. They can't have sharp fingernails or anything like that, because what they're working on is going to be a very useful vessel. That's what they used mostly in those days.

Verse 4: "And the vessel that he made of clay was ruined in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it…. [God is teaching a lesson] …Then the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'O house of Israel, can I not do with you even as this potter?' says the LORD.…" (vs 4-6).

Let's see the answer; let's see what most people think, with the attitude of the way the world is:

Isaiah 29:15: "Woe to those who go deep to hide their purpose from the LORD! And their works are in the dark, and they say, 'Who sees us? And who knows us?' Surely, you have turned things upside down!.…" (vs 15-16).

• Does that not describe our society today? Upside down!
• What happens when someone tries to turn it right side up?

"…Shall the potter be regarded as the potter's clay…?" (v 16).

Interesting statement, because that's how people think. 'We all evolved so, therefore, we're our own masters.' Not true!

"…for shall the work say of him who made it, 'He did not make me?'.… [we just evolved] …Or shall the thing formed say to him who formed it, 'He had no understanding?'" (v 16). That's how people answer back to God!

Jer. 18—Let's see what God does, and He's actively doing this all the time. Dolores and I were watching about these past civilizations and they were talking about when the earth was really warm in the 11-1300s and so forth, some areas were so hot that it just baked everything and people just up and move away.

Why? What were they doing? Don't know! No one knows! Then they also found in the Indus Valley, which is actually in Pakistan close to the Indian border, they found two cities that are totally buried and old. Of course, they can't tell how old anything is by measuring the soil because the earth was here long time before anything else was here so if you measured by the soil you going to get it totally wrong. Do you understand that?

If a bone is found in soil and you measure the soil and it says it's 30,000-years-old; that may be true measurement. So, you measure little bit of the bone, and it says 18,000-years-old. That may be true for the measurement, because what happens when a bone is in the ground? It pulls in the minerals from the soil! So therefore, unless you measure a bone really closely after it's buried you going to get a distorted result.

In these two cities they found people buried, their skeletons whole, and in the case of one group they were holding hands! Still buried! Then they did some radioactive measurements and they found this had to be the result of an atomic blast way back in time! The way that they found out was because when there is an atomic blast sand turns to glass.

• What happened?
• What were those people doing?
• How did that come upon them?
• Is it what God did to them?

or

• Had other people do to them as His instrument of punishment?

We don't know, but here they were! They said it's 8,000-years-old; that's the best measurement they can get. So, this had to be sometime either before the Flood or after the Flood.

Here is an aspect of God that most people don't understand, because they say, 'God, we don't want You in our lives; we believe in evolution get out of here.' All you religionists, you're nuts! The truth is they'renuts! Those who follow the Bible are the only ones who have the Truth!

Verse 7: "If at any time I shall speak… [that's a broad open statement] …concerning a nation… [not just Israel or Judah] …and concerning a kingdom, to pluck it up and to pull it down, and to destroy it."

Why would God do that? Because of sin! We just read it.

Verse 8: "If that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil…."

There's always a warning that God gives! It may not necessarily be anyone from a Church of God. It may not necessarily be a prophet from Israel who does it. Jonah was not a prophet from Israel; we don't know what tribe he was from. But he went and told the Ninevites that 'God's going to destroy you.' They all repented from the king right on down they even made the animals fast; put sackcloth on them! Remember what Christ said of them? I've never seen anything like that in Israel!

Verse 8: "If that nation, against whom I have spoken, will turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do to them."

Here in America we see a good number of people trying to move away from a lot of the problems and sins. All of the devoted sinners want to bring in their political things! I think it's a real lesson that if there is one man…

Remember what it said there Jer. 5:1? God said to Jeremiah, 'You look out at all Jerusalem and find one man who wants truth and justice…' It didn't say that he kept all God's commandments. Just one man that wanted truth and justice! You have to get that first before you can start bringing in the commandments. God said that He would pardon them.

He also told them in Jer. 19 that if everyone would start keeping the Sabbath that He would postpone the captivity that He said they were going to suffer. So, God always has conditions for people, and the conditions that He considers. It works both ways.

Now then on the other hand v 9: "And if at any time I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build it and to plant it… [add there family, group, church] …if it does evil in My sight, that it not obey My voice… [the ultimate, obedience to the voice of God] …then I will repent of the good with which I said I would do them good. Now, therefore, speak to the men of Judah, and to the people of Jerusalem, saying, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I am forming evil against you, and devising a plan against you. Return now, each one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.'" And they said, 'There is no hope…'" (vs 9-12).

• we see this working in a nation today
• we see the battle that's going on

God is watching that!

• we were coming close to being really punished

But God intervened and the election turned different!

Jeremiah 25:29: "'For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the city, which is called by My name; and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,' says the LORD of hosts."
How far does is go with the nations? All the nations of the world at all times!

If God didn't give them His laws he still judges them slightly different because they don't have thus says the Lord. But they have enough to know some things that are right and wrong and good and evil. If they turn from the evil and do which is good and that aligns with what Paul wrote in Rom. 2

"'…shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished. For I will call for a sword on all the inhabitants of the earth,' says the LORD of hosts." Those are the days we are living in right now and building up to it!.

Verse 30: "And prophesy against them all these words, and say to them, 'The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter His voice from His Holy habitation….'"

When is that going to be? The sixth seal, rolling back of the sky and clouds!

 "…He shall mightily roar over His dwelling place.… [Jerusalem] …He shall give a shout, like those who tread out grapes, against all the people of the earth…. [this is what God does for the whole world] …A noise shall come to the ends of the earth; for the LORD has a controversy with the nations…" (vs 30-31). That's why the Gospel is going to be preached in all the nations for a witness!

"'…He will plead with all flesh. He will give those who are wicked to the sword,' says the LORD" (v 31). That's what is going to happen!

I'm sure there are a lot of people who think that the Old Testament has been done away and all this sort of thing.

Isaiah 46:3: "Hearken to Me, O house of Jacob…"—that's all the 12 tribes!

Sidebar: Do you know how you can identify all the ten tribes of Israel plus some other nations close to them without even knowing that they're the tribes of Israel? You can find one verse in Deut. 28 that can identify?

Deuteronomy 28:43[transcriber's correction]: "The stranger dwelling among you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very low."

What nations on earth are strangers invading? China? India? Russia? Africa? South America? No! Europe and America! That's because of the sins of the people are so great that they are coming!

So, the way you solve the immigration problem is you get rid of abortion, which can be done at this point—it could be, but it would be a bloody mess for a long time—and you start keeping the commandments of God! Then the immigration problem will subside. It's that simple, but they won't do it.

Isaiah 46:4: "Even to your old age I am He; and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made you, and I will bear you up; even I will carry you, and will deliver you. To whom will you liken Me, and make Me equal, and compare Me, that we may be alike? They pour gold out of the bag, and weigh silver with the balance, and hire a goldsmith; and he makes it a god; they fall down, yea, they bow down to it. They carry it upon the shoulder, they carry it and set it in its place…" (vs 4-7).

Verse 8: "Remember this, and show yourselves men: bring it again to mind, O you transgressors. Remember the former things of old…" (vs 8-9).

That's why we have what is called the Old Testament for what has happened.

"…for I am God, and there is none else, I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things which were not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure'" (vs 9-10).

God is going to do it! That's how he says he's going to do it.

(go to the next track)

When you look at all of these things you think how bad is it going to get? Well as we were talking during the break people are not taught the true history, so they don't know. They don't understand what went on. They don't realize how difficult it's going to get.

Let's see what God says to Israel. You might read all of Ezek. 16 and 23. You will see that we have learned absolutely nothing. As one man says, 'It all lies at the doorstep of the pulpit.'

Chancy was visiting someplace in North Carolina and he were saying how 'religious' they were and so forth, and he went into the building to talk to them and they gave him a New Testament. He said, 'Where is the Old Testament?' Oh we don't need that!

Just because a person answers nicely does not mean that they're not grossly sinful. If you do away with the Old Testament, are you not grossly sinful? When God says heaven and earth will pass away but My words shall not? So it's not a matter of whether a person is nice.

Look at poor Jeremiah. They wanted to kill him because they said, 'You're speaking all those harsh words, you're not nice.' Jeremiah even pleaded with God, 'Look, they're after me!'

Ezekiel 16:20: "And you have taken your sons and your daughters, whom you have borne to Me, and you sacrificed them unto these images to be devoured.…"

Guess what you're talking about now: post birth abortion! That is child sacrifice! They're also in France making it legal for adults to have sex with children. In Belgium they've approved medically taking a life: euthanasia. They've approved euthanasia for children, and let the children themselves decide.

• How far will it go?
• What did Jesus say?
• They're going to be times of trouble such is not have been from the creation of the world!

So, we need to be armed mentally and spiritually so that we can understand, lest we get overwhelmed with the difficulties and problems that are going to take place.

"…Is this, your whoredoms so small a matter? You have slaughtered My children and delivered them up and caused them to pass throughthe fire" (vs 20-21).

All people belong to God—don't they? Yes they do! God says, 'They're My children!

Verse 22: "And in all your hateful deeds and your whoredoms you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and squirming in your own blood."

What is that? You don't know history! If you forgot what you were before, and in speaking to the nation that's saying you have forgotten your history! 'How I [God] blessed you and work with you and gave you all of these things and brought you into this wonderful pleasant land. And then you turn your back on Me.' So, God says:

Verse 23: "'Woe, woe to you,' says the Lord GOD! For it came to pass after all your wickedness, that you have also built yourself an eminent place, and you have made for yourself a high place in every square. You have built your high place at the head of every crossroad, and have made your beauty to be despised, and have opened your feet to everyone who passed by, and have multiplied your whoredoms. You have also whored with the Egyptians, your neighbors, great of flesh, and have multiplied your whoredoms to provoke Me to anger. And, behold, therefore, I have stretched out My hand over you, and diminished your allotted portion….'" (vs 23-27). That's going to come!

So, you look at all of these great economic things that are taking place here and you ask: Why is this taking place?

• because it's not time for the end to come as soon as people have thought
• the Gospel has to be preached to whole world, and the only place it's going to come from is America and it's going to take money because it comes from America
• in preaching to the whole world, the way that God is going to do it and is doing it, is this one company that is putting Wi-Fi in space for the whole world

The things that are going to take place are going to be so fantastic God wants everyone to see it!

Rev. 11—How does the world make merry over the two witnesses who are dead and the world sees them on the street in Jerusalem? Because God wants the whole world to see it as a witness against them! Therefore, He's blessing this nation to do these things so those prophecies can be fulfilled; that's why. That's why we really need to respond to God and do the things we need to do.

Many people have stopped a good number of their sins. Now there are more organizations against the slaughter of the children before birth and after birth, etc. then there have been in the past. God recognizes all those things. As we have seen God looks at all the nations. He looks at what we're doing as well.

Amos 4 is interesting. You've heard of the women's movement? Verse one addresses it. Isa. 3 says 'women rule over you' It's coming! Nothing against women, but the problem is: Will they be more righteous than the men? We'll find out!

Amos 4:1: "Hear this word, cows of Bashan who are in the mountain of Samaria—who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their husbands, 'Bring in wine that we may drink.' The Lord GOD has sworn by His Holiness, 'Behold, the days shall come upon you when they will lift you up with meat hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And you shall go out at the breaches in the walls, each woman straight before her. And you shall be cast off to Harmon,' says the LORD…. [they're going into captivity] …'Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and multiply transgressing at Gilgal. And bring your sacrifices for the morning, your tithes for three years'" (vs 1-4).

All of this unless you turn to God with all your heart isn't going to change it.

Verse 6: "'And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD." This is what God wants! He will honor repentance!

Verse 7: "'And I have also withheld the rain from you… [sounds like California] …when there were yet three months to the harvest. And I caused rain to fall on one city and caused it not to rain on another city; one field was rained on, and the field on which it did not rain dried up. So, two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied; yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD" (vs 7-8).

That what God wants! God said in Ezek. 33 that 'He does not delight in the death of the wicked,' but that they would repent! That's what God wants.

Verse 9: "'I have stricken you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive trees increased, the creeping locust devoured them; yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD. 'I have sent the plague among you after the manner of Egypt; I have slain your young men with the sword, and have taken away your horses. And I have made the stench of your camps to come up into your nostrils; yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD."

That last verse sounds like a little bit of the situation with taking away your homes. We have a lot of homeless!

Verse 11: "'I have overthrown some among you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you were like a firebrand plucked out of the burning; yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD. 'Therefore… [God always gives warning]: …I will do this to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!'" In other words, none of the nations are going to get away with it! It's just that simple.

Verse 13: "For lo, He forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what his thought is. He who makes the morning darkness, and treads upon the high places of the earth—the LORD, the God of hosts, is His name."

Now God goes on and shows here's what you need to do. Who knows what would happen? When Nineveh repented it was 120 years later before their fall. God always honors repentance! For God with us it starts with the Church. Then it has to go to those who are Sunday-keepers. What are you going to do? Then it goes to those who don't have any religion at all. Is their conduct going to be good or evil? It goes to all the politicians, no one is excluded.

Amos 5:4: "For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, 'Seek Me, and you shall live.'"

How do you seek God? With all your heart! Then you come to love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all your being!

Verse 5: "But do not seek Bethel…"—the house of God, and that's where they had all of their paganism. It isn't going to do any good to go to your church 'unless you come to Me.'

"…nor enter into Gilgal, and do not pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and you shall live... [that's what needs to be done] …lest He break out like a fire on the house of Joseph…" (vs 5-6)—Ephraim and Manasseh!

Look at what's happening to Ephraim. We'll look at the Ephraim in a little bit; it's a terrible mess!

"'…and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel—you who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off righteousness in the earth!' Seek Him Who created the Pleiades and Orion, and Who turned the deep darkness into the morning, and Him Who darkened the day into night. Seek Him Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth—the LORD is His name" (vs 6-8). That's what they should do, return to God! 

Verse 14: "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken." How do you do that? You come to see and understand what good is!

Verse 15: "Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate.…. [think about that when you watch the news] …It may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph." That's quite a thing; that's what God wants done!

Remember that Jesus said that 'the scribe will take something new and something old and that's what he will present.' I'll be the scribe today and we'll take something old we've covered before and cover it again because it tells everything we need to know.

Hosea 4:1: "Hear the Word of the LORD, children of Israel, for the LORD has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, 'There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land…. [that's how we got to where we are] …By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and the committing of adultery… [Sound like the evening news?] …they break out; and blood touches blood…. [notice what this does to the land]: …Therefore, shall the land mourn, and everyone who dwells in it shall languish, with the beasts of the field and with the birds of the heavens. Yes, the fish of the sea shall also be taken away'" (vs 1-3).

• Isn't that true? You can't go fishing like you used to at the set time, because there are fewer fish!
• Where did they go?
• What happened?
• God says He'll take it away!

Verse 4: "Yet, let no man strive, nor reprove another, for your people are as those who strive with the priest. And you shall stumble in the day, and the prophet also shall stumble with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.…" (vs 4-6).

Have you ever watched the interviews on Waters' World? Jesse Waters goes out there and says what you think of this and that and the other? I don't know! I don't know how they do it but they don't know anything!

• What do you think of socialism? Well that's great stuff! They don't even know what they're talking about!
• Who is the President of the United States? I don't know!
• Who is God? He's long gone someplace; we're all too smart for that!

"…Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you…" (v 6). Think of that! All those who go out and destroy their own lives reject God. They can repent and come back, but it will be a hard row to hoe. But they can!

"…I will also reject you from being as a priest to Me.…" (v 6).

Think about that in relationship to—because he says here the children of Israel—in relationship to where the gospel is being preached from in the world today. That's from America! Not from China! Not from Japan! Maybe a little from Australia. None from England, that's history! Maybe a little bit from the Netherlands. Nothing from Central America nothing from South America nothing from the North Pole or South Pole. Just America!

That being the case that's like acting as a priest for God to bring His Word to the world. So, he says:

"…I will also reject you… [because you have rejected Me] …Since you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also forget your children" (v 6).

That's why there are so many problems with children. Then you the residual of that don't you? Good children are made bad children by the friends that they have because of how they were raised. How do you think 'good children' get involved in drugs? Because they come into contact with bad children!

Verse 7: "As they were increased, so they sinned against Me. I will change their glory into shame."

That's certainly true of the UK today. It's a terrible mess back there. They took a Brit and put him in jail for showing what the Muslims do to people; hate crime! Is that turning things upside down? Yes! That's why they have to return to God.

Hosea 5:1: "Hear this, O priests, and hearken, O house of Israel.…" We can include all the religious leaders who say they represent God with this since it is Israel!

"…And give ear, O house of the king, for judgment is toward you because you have been a snare for Mizpah and a net spread over Tabor. And revolters have gone deep in slaughtering, and I chasten all of them. I know Ephraim, and Israel is not hidden from me, for now, O Ephraim, you committed whoredom; and Israel is defiled" (vs 1-3). Right back to where we started! How did all this began?

Verse 7: "They have acted treacherously against the LORD, for they have begotten strange children. Now, within a month invaders shall devour their land." That was for then. We'll come to a point like that here, too.

Are our lands being invaded? Yes indeed! It's called the immigration problem! They might be able to build a wall, but will that stop it? Maybe some! They might be able to check up on all the visas, but will that stop it? Maybe some! It all comes down to the behavior of the people, and what they should do and what they should not be doing!

Hosea 14:1: "O Israel, return to the LORD your God… [that's what God wants] …for you have fallen because of your iniquity." That's what's wrong! All the problems and difficulties that are there.

Verse 2: "Take with you words, and return to the LORD. Say to Him, 'Take away all our iniquity, and receive us graciously, that we may repay with the sacrifices of our lips. Assyria shall not save us; we will not ride on horses. Nor shall we say any more to the work of our hands, "Our gods"—for in You the fatherless finds mercy.' 'I will heal their backslidings; I will love them freely; for My anger has turned away from him. I will be as the dew to Israel; he shall blossom as the lily and cast out his roots like Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. Those who dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive like the grain, and grow like the vine. Their scent shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, "What have I to do any more with idols?" I have heard him and watched him; I am like a leafy cypress tree. Your fruit is found from Me.' Who is wise? He shall understand these things. Who has understanding? He shall know them, for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them; but transgressors shall fall in them" (vs 2-9).
Now let's come to the New Testament let's see some of the things that God wants us to do. We're not going to talk about the abomination of desolation there. A lot of all of this also depends collectively upon how all the Churches of God respond to God! Wouldn't you say that is important? Since God will look at individuals.

2-Thessalonians 2:13—Paul says: "Now, we are duty-bound to give thanks to God always concerning you, brethren, who are beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning has called you unto salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the Truth." Paul is encouraging and this is what God wants us to hold fast to.

Verse 14: "Unto which He called you by our Gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brethren, stand firm…" (vs 14-15).

• don't be wavering
• don't be looking for some excuse so you can sin and say it's okay

"…stand firm and hold fast the ordinances that you were taught, whether by word or by our epistle" (v 15).

Now this is what God wants us to do when we see all of these things. And they are coming! Now if there's some improvement between now then

• let's be thankful
• let's enjoy it
• let's use it

So that we can strengthen ourselves spiritually, physically and mentally!

Verse 16: "Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself…" Always remember that direct contact with God the Father and Jesus Christ!

"…and God—even our Father, Who loved us and gave us eternal encouragement and good hope through grace. Encourage your hearts and establish you in every good word and work" (vs 16-17).

When we see all these things coming down the pipe this is what we need to do: stay close to God! Yes, we can see it and know it's coming. Yes, it needs to be condemned. But we also need to realize that regardless of the circumstances God has his eye on His people and He wants them to come to Him and love Him and serve Him in spite of everything that's going on! He will bless us in that!

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 24:11-12, 14
• Leviticus 18:1-6, 24-30
• Leviticus 19:29-31
• Jeremiah 18:1-6
• Isaiah 29:15-16
• Jeremiah 18:7-12
• Jeremiah 25:29-31
• Isaiah 46:3
• Deuteronomy 28:43
• Isaiah 46:4-10
• Ezekiel 16:20-27
• Amos 4:1-4, 6-13
• Amos 5:4-8, 14-15
• Hosea 4:1-7
• Hosea 5:1-3, 7
• Hosea 14:1-9
• 2 Thessalonians 2:13-17

Scriptures quoted, not referenced:

• Acts 2-5
• Jeremiah 23; 5:1; 19
• Romans 2
• Ezekiel 23
• Revelation 11
• Isaiah 3
• Ezekiel 33

Also referenced:

Articles:

• Teacher Fails Entire Class Then Explains Why The Jackson Press (April 20, 2018) {http://thejacksonpress.org/?p=82051}
• Keeping the faith: Americans are less likely to go to church, but most still believe in God, survey says by Valerie Bauman, August 1, 2018 {http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6017067/Keeping-faith-Americans-likely-church-believe-God.html}

Church at Home series: Come Out of Her My People {churchathome.org}

FRC:po/bo
Transcribed: 8/21/18

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