Why Wickedness and Lies

The people have corrupted themselves and are without God!

Fred R. Coulter—October 29, 2016

- Video | - PDF | Audio | [Up]

How did we get in such a tangled mess? Oh, the webs we weave in order to deceive, those thoughts of which we have conceived. How did we get this way?

We'll look at a few Scriptures in Revelation to help us understand what's happening in the world, to understand what's going on here. Whatever the situation is, it must be very dire in order for head of the FBI to go ahead and re-open the investigation on Hillary Clinton and everything else that goes with that.

Revelation 12:9: "And the great dragon…" This takes us clear back to Gen. 3 and takes us clear back before the creation of the world in the first part of chapter twelve.

"…was cast out, the ancient serpent who is called the Devil and Satan, who is deceiving the whole world…" A lot of things that look right and good are actually very deceptive.

"…he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him" (v 9). We're looking at mammoth lies beginning especially in religion. Then we have:

• government
• education
• finance
• entertainment

Revelation 17:1: "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.'" Those waters are peoples. Isn't it interesting that the last beast rises out of the sea? Yes, indeed.

Verse 2: "With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

If you're drunk, it's hard to tell right from wrong. Especially with all the things in the world today, with all the drugs.

Revelation 18:2: "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 2-3). This is inclusive this way: From the beginning through all nations at the end-time.
Verse 3: "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… [lying, cheating, stealing, committing wars] …and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury.'"

Living where we do here in California and in many places in America, we're not right in the middle of the intensity of what's going on. There will come a time when we will. Why is the world in this condition?

• sin
• Satan
• men and women were made to need God and His laws and His ways

• God is a God of love
• God is a God of power
• God is a God of judgment

His judgment is: 'I am a God of Truth and I will not tolerate any lies.' Now you see what lies do on a mass scale. Look around the world.

Jeremiah—as I've mentioned many times—is a very interesting book of prophecy to study. The reason that it is interesting to study is because it shows what God did to Israel to bless it, to provide for it, asking only that they would obey God's voice! After all, God is perfect and holy and His laws and commandments are. As a matter of fact, Psa. 19 says, 'The Law of the Lord is perfect.'

Men and women were made incomplete, even though they feel complete. When we're born, there's nothing up here in the mind. Rush Limbaugh says kids are born with a brain that's like a bowl full of mush; there's nothing in it. That's why they need correct teaching so they can learn. After all, the potential of human life is so great that we need detailed instruction on how to run it.

If you have a complicated piece of equipment, you have to maintain it, take care of it, make sure it's running correctly, and everything like that. You have to run it according to the instructions.

The instruction book for mankind is the Bible. The reason that the Bible is so thick is because human beings are complex.

Jeremiah 10:23: "O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself… [we think we do] …it is not in man who walks to direct his steps." Even when you know right from wrong, good from evil, you still make mistakes.

Verse 24: "O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in Your anger, lest You bring me to nothing." Left to ourselves 'there's a way that seems right to a man, the ends thereof are the ways of death.'

I couldn't help but think of Isaiah watching the news the other day. We've come to Isaiah many times when we talk about corruption of the nations. In talking about it, we really haven't understood how absolutely corrupt it is. God knows, so He says:

Isaiah 1:2: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken, 'I have reared and brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me'"—that's why children need discipline, teaching, understanding.

He compares us to animals and he's literally saying that animals are smarter than humans by nature, 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.' Ah, sinful nation, a people burdened with iniquity… [that's sure true; look at all the sins that go on] …a seed of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! (vs 3-4). Why is that? It goes clear back to Gen. 3, people don't want God telling them what to do.

"…They have forsaken the LORD… ['I'm going to do it my way.'] …they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger; they have gone away backward. Why should you be stricken any more? You will revolt more and more; the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint" (vs 4-5).

I think right now God is giving us an opportunity for a little flatness in the decline. How that will work, I don't know. We will know in nine days (until the Presidential election).

Verse 6: "From the sole of the foot even to the top of the head there is 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… [becoming more and more] …your cities are burned with fire… [that's happened over and over again] … Strangers devour your land right in your very presence, and it is wasted, as overthrown by strangers" (vs 6-7).

Verse 9: "Except the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant…" The most important thing in God's mind right now is not the massive events that are taking place, but it is the remnant, the Church, wherever the people of God are.

What did Abraham negotiate God down to, before He destroyed Sodom? Down to ten people! God is looking down here:

• What is the condition of the Church?
• What are we doing?
• What are we preaching?
• How are we living?
• How are we thinking?

Verse 9: "Except the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we would have been as Sodom; we would have become like Gomorrah." That's what God calls us!

Verse 10: "Hear the Word of the LORD, rulers of Sodom; give ear to the Law of our God, people of Gomorrah." Then the first thing that is corrupted is religion and the prophets.

Let's look at a couple of other Scriptures here. We know that Satan the devil is the father of lies. There's one thing that always happens with lies: Sooner or later your lie will find you out! In other words, it will be exposed. Your lie will find you out.

Here's a very interesting chapter in the book of Matthew, especially as it has to do with the end-time going into all the world. Sometimes you read some of these things and it doesn't make sense.

Jesus sent the twelve disciples to go out and preach. After saying they were going to be hated by everybody and brought before kings, and they would speak as the Father in them speaks:

Matthew 10:22: "And you shall be hated by all for My name's sake; but the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved."

Here's the moral of the story. It's not almost to the end. It's not halfway to the end, it is to the end. How many people in the last part of their lives make fatal mistakes? A lot of them! Read the books of Kings and Chronicles. Nearly every king, including the one who was righteous—David—had his problems.

Then Jesus goes on to show here, v 23: "'But when they persecute you in this city, escape into another; for truly I say to you, in no way shall you have completed witnessing to the cities of Israel until the Son of man has come.'"

This projects it out to the end. We're going to see a couple of interesting verses here in a minute.

Verse 24: "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master." He's telling us a very important principle we need to know: Christ is the Teacher. He has raised up those who are ministers who will be teaching and they have to teach the Word of God.

Verse 25: "It is sufficient for the disciple that he become as his teacher…" We are told:

Philippians 2:5: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus." That's being like the teacher.
Matthew 10:26: "Therefore, do not fear them because there is nothing covered that shall not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that shall not be known…. [in this age that can happen] …What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy bothlife and body in Gehenna" (vs 26-28).

"…what you hear in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops." Let's combine that Scripture together with:

Numbers 32:23: "…Be sure your sins will find you out." What is said in darkness will be heard from the housetops. With today's technology can you get any better description than that? How does it come into your house?

• wire
• satellite
• phone

I saw this statistic the other night concerning cell phones. This was done when there were 6.5-billion people on earth. Guess how many cell phones are in the world? At that time there were 5-billion cell phones! I cannot imagine that! Sitting right here there are only two of us that don't have it.

I don't have one. At home we're so old fashioned we have a land-line. But remember when the phone first came out? I remember living out in the country when we finally got the telephone out there. This was in Kitsap County in Washington, north of Poulsbo. We lived on a farm out there during the war. They got the phone in there and it was a hand-cranked phone. The way you got the operator was you picked up the receiver and then gave it a long crank. Then she would plug you in so the wire would go to wherever it was, and you could talk to the person on the other end of the line, while she listened.

Think about 'shall be proclaimed from the housetop.' Look at what happened just yesterday. BAM! The whole world knew when Comey reopened the investigation against Hillary. Boy, does she have a pile of snakes in that basket.

Let's look at some Proverbs concerning deceit and lies; Proverbs 6:16: "These six things the LORD hates; yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood… [think about politically what has gone on as well] … a heart that plots wicked imaginations, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and he who sows discord among brethren" (vs 16-19).

All of those things happen. When you start out with the first one, then you have the second, you have the third, you have the fourth, and they go right on one after another.

This one is talking about the campaign headquarters of Hillary and other politicians; Proverbs 11:18: "The wicked makes a deceitful work, but one sowing righteousness has a sure reward. As righteousness tends to life, so one pursuing evil pursues it to his own death. Those who are of a perverse heart are an abomination to the LORD, but the upright in the way are His delight" (vs 18-20).

This is the remnant. It can apply to other people. There are some people who want to be honest. They believe certain lies, yes, all the religious holidays of this world.

Proverbs 14:5: "A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will speak lies."

Verse 8: "The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit." There we have that all the way through.

Verse 12: "There is a way, which seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death."

Verse 25: "A true witness delivers souls, but a deceitful witness speaks lies." All following after Satan the devil. Quite an interesting thing!

Proverbs 19:5: "A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who pours out lies shall not escape." Interesting, how many days before the election? Eleven!

Let's look at some of the consequences of these things as we go along. Let's understand something about lying and the worst kind of lies. Let's come to 1-John.

It's one thing to tell a lie when you know it's a lie and you know you are lying. That is not good, but let's understand something this way. You still know the truth. You know what the lie is; you know what the truth is. Here's the kind of lie that becomes the worst and that is when you deceive yourself and believe your lies!

1-John 1:6: "If we proclaim that we have fellowship with Him, but we are walking in the darkness, we are lying to ourselves…" Darkness is the way of the world; darkness is going against God. How many people are there who say they have fellowship with Him, but are walking in that walk? Millions! We are lying to ourselves.

I had a telephone conversation with a man here recently who could not understand the simple truth that no man can tell God what to do. He thought the Apostle Paul could change the Law. Can you change the law of gravity?

Then I got an e-mail from a long-time Lutheran pastor, writer, and so forth. He wanted to review the Faithful Version Bible. I said I would be happy to review the Faithful Version Bible, but that I'd like you to look at a couple of other things first.

I said, 'I'm sending you Rome's Challenge to the Protestants, and Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures.' I also asked him why would you have a Christianity based on the edict of a Roman emperor concerning Sunday-keeping. 'So, if you want to review the Bible, I'd like to hear your answer.' I didn't tell him that, but that was implied.

He was a long-time Lutheran. His father was a Lutheran and I think his father's father was a Lutheran. Seven children, five boys, all Lutheran ministers. They are walking in darkness and lying to themselves, accepting the lies as truth. That's the worst kind of lying.

Jeremiah 16:9: "For thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I will cause the voice of mirth to cease out of this place before your eyes, and in your days, the voice of gladness, and the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. And it shall come to pass, when you declare to this people all these words, and they shall say to you, "Why has the LORD pronounced all this great evil against us?..."'" (vs 9-10).

That's what the world can't understand. Why, when we're trying to do good? But the good the world does is evil. They call evil good and good evil.

I stopped short of telling that Lutheran 'expert': 'Why don't you keep the Sabbath?' If I did, he's probably think, 'Why are you saying these words? I'm a good man; I have a good wife; I have good children.' They don't know right from wrong!

"'…Or what is our iniquity, or what is our sin that we have committed against the LORD our God?' Then you shall say to them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me,' says the LORD… [it's written in the Word of God] …'and have walked after other gods…'" (vs 10-11).

What is the big Achilles heel, religiously speaking, in the Constitution of the United States? It benefits us: freedom of religion. I'm sure when they wrote that, they did not have in mind Islam or Buddhism. Now look at it 200-odd years later. What a mess! Besides that there are other gods:

• entertainment idols
• music idols
• political idols

"'…and have served them, and have worshiped them, and have forsaken Me, and have not kept My Law'" (v 11).

Human beings were made to receive the laws and commandments of God because we have such great potential. If we do not conduct our lives according to the ways of God, we are going to end up creating an evil society that's going to destroy itself. As Jesus said the world is going to get so bad that unless He returned, 'there would be no flesh saved alive.'

We don't know what they're doing in creating war implements. We don't know what they're doing over there in the Hadrian Collider under the Switzerland mountains. Amazing!

Verse 12: "And you have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, you walk each one after the stubbornness of his evil heart, without hearkening to Me."

Free moral agency, 'I have a right to choose; I will do this; I will do that; I will do the other thing.' So then, it results in being cast out.

This is how bad it got for Jeremiah; I feel sorry for him. 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! Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for traveling men, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men" (vs 1-2).

I can't help but thinking of cities like Chicago, New York, Washington, San Francisco. Michael Savage said the other day, 'San Francisco is a city with no soul.' Very interesting, much like this.

Verse 3: "'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. 'Everyone beware of his neighbor, and do not trust any brother! 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. Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,' says the LORD" (vs 3-6).

Look at all of that and how that applies to us today. Then He says He's going to send them off into captivity.

Now I'm sure you go on television and you look at the different religious leaders, they're all going to go out and vote for Trump. Maybe it will work; maybe it won't. We'll have to see.

Maybe there may be a little good for a while because people actually do some good, but they carry all the baggage of their lives with them.

Ezekiel 13:1: "And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel who prophesy. And say to those who prophesy out of their own hearts, "Hear the Word of the LORD; thus says the Lord GOD, 'Woe to the foolish prophets who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing!'"" (vs 1-3).

If you don't believe that Scripture, go look at TBN. Go look at the Catholic channel. Go look at the Protestant channel. The Protestant channel is so deficient in good speakers that they run Billy Graham's campaigns over and over again.

Verse 4: "'O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the ruins. You have not gone up into the breach, nor built the wall for the house of Israel, that it might stand in the battle in the day of the LORD. They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, "The LORD says." And the LORD has not sent them; but they hoped to confirm their word. Did you not see a vain vision, and speak a lying divination? When you say, "The LORD says"; although I have not spoken'" (vs 4-7).

Think of that in relationship to what is called Christianity:

• they have this tradition
• they have that tradition
• they have that teaching
• they have all of the occult holidays
• they have Sunday

All of that and they say, 'God has said,' when He didn't say.

Verse 8: "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD, 'Because you have spoken vanity and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you,' says the Lord GOD."

One reprieve: Jer. 23. There are some who actually use the Bible quite extensively. One of them is Charles Stanley. He's a pretty good preacher, but when it comes to the Sabbath and the Holy Days they are as if they don't even exist in the Bible.

Another thing that they're saying now is that if you believe Christ comes into you, and you don't have to be baptized. That's what happens when you continue to erode all the Truth of God.

Jeremiah 23:14: "'I have also seen in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing; they commit adultery and walk in lies. They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that none returns from his evil; they are all of them like Sodom to Me, and her inhabitants like Gomorrah.' Therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets, 'Behold, I will feed them wormwood, and make them drink poisonous water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone forth into all the land'" (vs 14-15).

What did God do to Jerusalem? Think about it. They have a lot of these archeological digs over there. You know that didn't have to be if the people would have listened to God, then it would be there. God offered them, 'If you would obey My voice, you'll be here.' But they get all excited if they find a little relic, and so forth. That's pretty sad that you have to be excited about finding a relic and you don't know why it got there, because of sin!

Verse 16: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, 'Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you vain; they speak a vision from their own heart, not out of the mouth of the LORD. They still say to those who despise Me.' The LORD has said, 'You shall have peace!' And they say to everyone who walks after the imagination of his own heart… [everyone does what is right in his own eyes. What happens? Lawlessness and that's what we have today] ...'No evil shall come upon you!'" (vs 16-17).

(go to the next track)

Verse 18: "For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD to see and hear His Word?…." The only ones doing that today really are the people in the Churches of God, somewhat in other churches. We have to give them credit for that. Paul says that if they keep the law partially, it's a law unto itself. That is true, but eventually that is all washed away because of succeeding generations that can't even tolerate some of it.

"…Who has attended to His Word and heard it? Behold, the tempest of the LORD has gone forth in fury, a whirling tempest… [Sound a little bit like our weather this year and last year?] …It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return until He has executed and until He has performed the purposes of His heart; in the latter days you shall understand it perfectly" (vs 18-20).

So, we look out and we see all of this that is called Christianity and it's not Christianity. It is a form of religion that has borrowed certain parts of the Bible for their behavioral standard. They don't obey God, but notice, v 21. That's why I say there may be a little hope—not much—but a little hope.

Verse 21: "I have not sent these prophets, yet, they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet, they prophesied. But if they had stood in My counsel…" (vs 21-22). If, which tells you if they had followed the Word of God… Got the report there are some Assemblies of God going to Sabbath-keeping, instead of Sunday-keeping. That's a great first step. Like I mentioned last Sabbath, the bare minimum God will accept is Sabbath and Passover.

Verse 22: "But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings." That's really something to say.

What does this tell us about the Word of God? For human beings, the Word of God is so important that if anyone really speaks the truth from the Word of God, as the truth in the Word of God is supposed to be spoken, God will honor it. That's an amazing thing when you think of it.

Let's see what happens when none of these things take place. What happens to human nature on a mass scale? We know that God does not delight in the death of the wicked. He says so. We know that God is interested in repentance.

We're not told much about the pre-Flood world. Just barely enough so we know that it took place:

Genesis 6:1: "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and when daughters were born to them, that the sons of the mighty ones…" (vs 1-2).

Some versions say 'the sons of God,' so people mistake it to mean angels, because angels are called sons of God in the book of Job. They say that angels cohabited with human women and produced a super race. That's not true.

I saw one translation, I forget where I saw it, instead of mighty ones, they called them godlings. In other words, men exalting themselves so high that they got the reputation of being godlings.

Verse 3: "And the LORD said, 'My Spirit shall not always strive with man in his going astray, for he is but flesh, and yet, his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.'" After the Flood it gradually down to 120 years max; took time, but it did.

Verse 4: "There were tyrants on the earth in those days, and also after that, the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. They were mighty men who existed of old, men of renown. And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (vs 4-5).

You see what happens with the absence of the teaching of the Word of God, where there are no standards. Lawlessness reigns!

Let's look at today. The only way there can be an improvement is if people are taught to control themselves and be lawful and the laws are good laws. You know you're not going to take the Bible out there, throw it down on the table, and say, 'Here are the laws you need to follow.' They won't pick it up. Maybe if there's a modicum of law and order, if there is a reduction in lying, cheating and stealing, a reduction in murder, maybe there will be a space of time to further preach the Gospel. I do not know.

If Hillary gets in, I think it's just going to be a dive for the bottom, because God is giving us a choice. The choice is not too good, but one is better than the other, comparatively speaking. We've got nine days to find out.

I don't know if on the 10th day of you can rejoice, or on the 10th day you better buy more food; you better protect yourself. All of those who live by the sword shall die by the sword, so I don't know about buying guns to protect yourself, because it seems as though when men get really violent and evil it doesn't matter what you have, they're going to come and get you anyway. So we don't know what it's going to be like.

Then add to that what can happen in the cities: riots, killings, insurrections. We've got a lot of perhaps secret underground insurrectors, don't we? Yes, we do! So we don't know. 'Only evil continually.'

Verse 6: "And the LORD repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart." Think about that. What a terrible situation that was. God was left with no other decision:

Verse 7: "And the LORD said, 'I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the crawling thing, and the fowl of the air; for I repent that I have made them.' But Noah… [one person] …found grace in the eyes of the LORD" (vs 7-8). You know the rest of the story.

Let's see how human beings do. It is something and it is keyed to this: Whenever people quit keeping the Sabbath… The children of Israel at this point had kept the Sabbath in the wilderness for 40 years. Were they anxious to continue keeping the Sabbath? You read the history of it and what does it say? They kept the commandments of God as long as Joshua and the elders were there. As soon as they all died out, there's a new generation. So God warned them of it:

Deuteronomy 9:12: "And the LORD said to me, 'Arise! Get down quickly from here, for your people whom you have brought forth out of Egypt have corrupted themselves…'" Every time they sinned, they belonged to Moses. Every time they did right, they belonged to God.

"'…They have quickly turned aside out of the way, which I commanded them. They have made them a molten image'" (v 12).

What happened? Here they were at Mount Sinai. God gave all the instructions that He was going to give Moses on how to build the sanctuary, everything like that. All of the statutes and ordinances and Moses was up on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights. He said he didn't eat food or drink water.

What happened? The people came to Aaron and said, 'Up, make us gods.' Aaron—again to show you how important one man is—could have said, 'All you Levites gather around here. These people want to leave God. We will not let you do it.'

No, Aaron didn't do that! He said, 'Okay, bring all your gold over here.' Threw it in the fire and he told Moses that out leaped this calf. They had a feast—actually an orgy—dedicated to the Lord. Same thing of human nature. Always wanting to have their own way and then put the name of God on it.

Verse 13: "Furthermore the LORD spoke to me saying, 'I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Me alone so that I may destroy them…'" (vs 13-14). That's something!

Think about it. You think: Why would God destroy all these people if we're so important to God? Made after the image of God, this also tells us the ultimate purpose of God is so fantastic that you can't have it unless you do everything God's way.

Of course, God didn't tell them about the second resurrection. No one knew a thing about the second resurrection until Rev. 20 when John was given the vision. 'The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years are completed.' But it's amazing.

"…And I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they" (v 14).

Again, we can be thankful for one man: Moses. Because Moses said, 'No, don't destroy the people.' He came down, saw all that they were doing and he broke the tablets of stone that God had written the Ten Commandments on. That's what they did there.

Let's see in the Psalms how men and women really are without God and what happens when sin comes along. Everyone wants God to bless them. Everyone wants God to be with them, but they don't want to do God's way. They push God off.

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, for the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous but despises the LORD" (vs 1-3).

What happens when you get a society where the rulers are like this? We're living in it right now. They despise the Lord. You can worship Allah, true. You can take the Koran to school, true. But you can't take the Bible to school and you can't teach them the Word of God in school.

During the Feast I was talking with Joe Inglais and he said when he went to school, the first thing they did was have prayers to start the day and salute the flag. Then they actually studied the Bible. How many school fights were there? Not very many! No thievery, no drugs, none of this. No gangs. But look what happens when you get a whole group of people that despise God?

Verse 4: "Through the pride of his countenance the wicked will not seek God; in all his thoughts there is no place for God."

I have to say this much for Donald Trump. This is not to promote him or say to go vote for him. He does say that the way we are going to get along is we're going to love each other. He did make the strongest declaration concerning the unborn of any politician since the institution of Roe vs Wade.

One man, he's got not too good a past. One psychologist said this of Donald Trump, when asked what about Hillary? He said, 'She's a liar, wants power.' What about Trump? He said, 'He's a truth-seeker.'

If there is any hope for less violence and things, maybe if Trump becomes President and if he keeps his word, maybe things will flatten out for a while. Don't know!

So, however the election turns out, we can rest assured of this: God is telling us, all right, 'since you people want to vote, let's see how you vote and it will depend on how I react and will depend on what's going to happen to this nation.'

Everybody admits we are at the edge or we are at the crossroads. Everybody, in all of the things that I mentioned in the beginning:

• religion
• government
• education
• finance
• entertainment

We're at the crossroads. Very interesting. We'll have to wait and see what happens.

The comment was made about the illegals coming in. Let's just talk about Deut. 30 for a minute. He said, 'The stranger within your midst shall get very high above you and you'll be brought very low.' How is very high? Don't know! How low is very low? Don't know!

Even for people who might not even believe the Bible, at least you can believe that God said it would happen to the descendants of the children of Israel. 'In the latter days you'll consider it perfectly.' Where are all the refugees and people from the Middle East going?

• Are they going to China?
• Are they going to India?
• Are they going to South Africa?
• Are they going to Brazil?
• Are they going to Russia?
• No!
• Where are they going? Into Europe!

You can prove from history that Europe contains the twelve tribes of Israel. The stranger is getting up very high above them.

Where are the children of Israel today? Europe, England, and America. You think that they would succeed in going to China?

"…in all his thoughts there is no place for God. His ways prosper at all times. He is haughty, and Your judgments are far from him. As for all his enemies, he sneers at them" (vs 4-5). Doesn't that look like this presidential race, etc?

Verse 6: "He has said in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; from generation to generation I shall never be in adversity.'" We've had a hundred years of this gradually, incrementally.

Verse 7: "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… [that generally has to be with abortion] …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 helpless; he catches the helpless and drags him off in his net" (vs 7-9).

• you could apply this to murder
• you could apply this to kidnapping
• you could apply this to drugs
• you could apply this to so many things

Verse 10: "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!'" (vs 10-11).

So, here is the cry. Maybe there are enough people crying this out. Maybe they've had enough crime up to a certain point; v 12: "Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble."

There are some people out there trying to do good. There are some people out there trying to make things better.

Verse 13: "Why do the wicked spurn God? He has said in his heart, 'You will not call into account.'" Think of that!

I wonder if that's what Hillary said, 'I'll be president and no one will ever know.' Then comes the sudden surprise eleven days before the election. Makes you wonder.

Verse 14: "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. Break the arm of the wicked and the evil one; seek out his wickedness until You find none" (vs 14-15). Of course, that won't take place until Christ returns.

Verse 16: "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 16-18).

That's where we are, right smack on the verge of all of this. Whoever thought you would find the foundations of the election in the Bible. That's why God has called us, because we, when we become spirit beings, will solve all of these problems.

Again, look at how people are, 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. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good" (vs 1-3). Sound like some of our politicians and ministers around? Yes, indeed!

Verse 4: "He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil."

Think of this for just a minute. WikiLeaks is interesting. I don't think it was the Russians doing this. Did God look down and say, 'It is so evil, I'm going to raise up this person or this person and expose it?' Could be, because WikiLeaks is at the heart and core of all of this. Did God do that because the evil is so overwhelmingly oppressive and pushing in on us that there is no way we would have known? None!

As one commentator likes to call it 'the Clinton cartel,' I think you ought to put in there 'the corrupt Clinton cartel'; they are so secretive in their deceptiveness and in bilking billions of dollars from people with their foundation, that the one running her campaign, and some of those working with him, didn't even know that Hillary had a private server. They didn't even know. I don't know how WikiLeaks came about, but I don't think it would be the Russians, because if they're trying to destroy us and take us over, hey, just let Hillary have it and take it down. Interesting.

Verse 4: "He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil." They love it! Duplicity!

One man said of listening to Hillary, said he's never heard a person tell lies so convincingly and with such inner belief that her lies to herself are true, and with such a face that you can't tell she's lying. That is amazing.

Here's the appeal, v 5: "Your loving kindness, O LORD, is in the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Your righteousness is like the great mountains; Your judgments are like the great deep; O LORD, You preserve man and beast. How precious is Your loving kindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men take refuge under the shadow of Your wings" (vs 5-7). Let's apply that to the Church and those people who don't want to be oppressed.

Verse 8: "They shall be abundantly satisfied with the richness of Your house; and You shall make them drink of the river of Your pleasures"—of course that gets into the Millennium.

Let's look at some things that assure us. Let's understand about God:

• God is true
• the Word of God is true
• God cannot lie

Titus becomes really all important because you see even for the Churches of God it is the Word of God and the Spirit of God:

• the Word of God is true
• God is true
• the Spirit is called the Spirit of the Truth
• it will lead you into all things you need to know

Here's what Paul writes, Titus 1:1: "Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect and the knowledge of the Truth that is according to Godliness; in the hope of eternal life, which God Who cannot lie promised before the ages of time" (vs 1-2).

Just think what those two verses alone tell us. An amazing thing, isn't it? Let's look at that again:

• "…knowledge of the Truth that is according to Godliness…" has to be according to the commandments of God, the Word of God, and everything about it
• "…in the hope of eternal life…" is why we are called
• "…which God Who cannot…" This is important to understand. Cannot comes from the Greek 'ou dunatai', meaning no power. God has no power to lie.
• "…Who cannot lie, promised before the ages of time"—going back into eternity before the earth was ever created.

Verse 3: "But revealed in its own set time in the proclamation of His Word, with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior."

Sidebar: No recognition of God the Spirit; no trinity!

The whole plan of God and the promise to Abraham, and to us, is based upon Truth and on God Who cannot lie. This is why conversion becomes so important, because with the Word of God, the Spirit of God, the inspiration of God, loving God and keeping His commandments, He is taking our carnal hostile mind and converting it. It's a process.

Hebrews 6:17: "In this way God, desiring more abundantly to show the heirs of the promise the unchangeable nature of His own purpose, confirmed it by an oath… [this goes back to Abraham] …so that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie…" (vs 17-18). What are those two immutable things?

The Word of God: What did God tell Abraham, the very first thing He said to Him? He said, 'Your descendants from your own loins will be like the sand of the sea. Step outside and look at the heavens. Count the stars if you are able. So shall your seed be.' That declaration of God to Abraham was the declaration outline of His purpose for mankind. From that flows all the rest of the Bible!

• the Truth of God
• from the God of Truth
• with the Spirit of Truth
• with the purpose of Truth
• with eternal life

It is absolutely sure to happen. That's why he's writing this.

"…we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement…" (v 18)—with the power of God's Holy Spirit to know at all times:

• even though we may get discouraged
• even though we may get depressed because of the things going on
• even though things aren't working exactly as they should

it's all going to work out as long as we love God and serve Him and believe Him.

"…to lay hold on the hope that has been set before us" (v 18). What can be greater than eternal life? living without sin? living in perfect harmony with God?

• in love
• in beauty
• in splendor
• in wealth

The whole wealth of the universe God has made for His family.

In saying that I can't get over the first picture they took after correcting the lens on the Hubbell Telescope. That was like putting on a contact lens so it would focus. They said, 'We're going to point to this dark, dark area out in the universe where we can't see a thing.'

BOOM! They let it run for fifteen days. Came back and developed it and they concluded there are literally billions and billions, if not trillions, of galaxies—not stars—galaxies with stars within the galaxies. God has made that for His great plan and we will be part of it.

Even those who believe in going to heaven don't understand that. We're not going to go to heaven when Christ returns, but after the new heaven and Earth are here, we will be able to travel into space.

• What will that be like?
• How fast will we go?
• What will our jobs be?
• What will life be like?

Verse 18: "…strong encouragement to lay hold on the hope that has been set before us; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul… [so you won't be moved] …both secure and steadfast, and which enters into the sanctuary within the veil" (vs 18-19).

What is he telling us here? We're not some little blip down here that God doesn't know us or who we are, where we are. We have direct access to the Great Creator God: the Father and Christ.

Verse 20: "Where Jesus has entered for us as a forerunner, having become a High Priest forever according to the order of Melchisedec."

Revelation 21:3: "And I heard a great voice from heaven say, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men; and He shall dwell with them… [men and women made perfect] …and they shall be His people; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes…'" (vs 3-4).

I just wonder how many tears have been cried by how many people suffering through so many things, and disasters, in the history of the world.

"'…and there shall not be anymore death, or sorrow, or crying; neither shall there be any more pain, because the former things have passed away.' And He Who sits on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' Then He said to me, 'Write, for these words are true and faithful.' And He said to me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End… [we will come to the end of this phase of God's plan] …To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life. The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. 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 4-8).

That's how God is going to solve it. That's quite a thing. Whenever things look really bad, claim the promises of God! Focus on that and that will help you be able to carry the problem. If you don't do that, you're going to carry the problem. You'll get burdened down; you'll get loaded down and you'll get even more discouraged.

Let's encourage one another with these words!

Scriptural References:

• Revelation 12:9
• Revelation 17:1-2
• Revelation 18:2-3
• Jeremiah 10:23-24
• Isaiah 1:2-7, 9-10
• Matthew 10:22-25
• Philippians 2:5
• Matthew 10:25-28
• Numbers 32:23
• Proverbs 6:16-19
• Proverbs 11:18-20
• Proverbs 14:5, 8, 12, 25
• Proverbs 19:5
• 1-John 1:6
• Jeremiah 16:9-12
• Jeremiah 9:1-6
• Ezekiel 13:1-8
• Jeremiah 23:14-22
• Genesis 6:1-8
• Deuteronomy 9:12-14
• Psalm 10:1-18
• Psalm 36:1-8
• Titus 1:1-3
• Hebrews 6:17-20
• Revelation 21:3-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 3
• Psalm 19
• Philippians 2:5
• Revelation 20
• Deuteronomy 30

Also referenced: From The Holy Bible in Its Original Order:

• Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants
• Appendix Z: Understanding Paul's Difficult Scriptures Concerning The Law and the Commandments of God

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 11-11-16
Formatted: bo—11-13-16

Copyright 2016—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.