The Irony of Our Times

The title of the sermon is, The Irony of Our Times. We could name it miscellaneous ramblings of Donald Ward or many other things, but that's what we're calling it, The Irony of Our Times. Jesus addressed the irony of our times in Matthew 24, 12 when he stated, and because iniquity, lawlessness, shall abound, and that's what we see all over, the love of many shall wax cold. Of course, this is directed toward the Church. The love of many shall wax cold. The Apostle Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3, 13, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. So we know that things are going to get worse and worse. Paul wrote this some 2,000 years ago, and look where we are today. But we are perhaps have not surpassed what you heard about there in the sermonette of what was happening in Sodom. I don't think anyone has stooped that low, but maybe they have. There are other sins and crimes that people have committed that probably would surpass what they did in Sodom and Gomorrah.

The dictionary definition of irony is the use of words to express something other than, and especially the opposite of, the literal meaning. Now that doesn't exactly capture the meaning that I'm addressing, so what do I mean? What I mean is, as men and women, as all of us, see what is happening in this world with society unraveling before our eyes, why would our love grow cold? Why would our zeal grow lukewarm or even cold?

Or to state it in another way, why don't we become zealous in our conviction, commitment, and courage to redeem the times because the days are evil as we see these things happening? We talk to any church pastor, which I talk to several around the nation, and you will see that the same story just seems that we are sort of a sleepwalking through our days, and we're in a rut, and we need to be jarred out of the rut. Not only you, but me. The sermon is more to me than it is to you, but hopefully you will get something out of it too. For at least 70 years, we've been, we've seen a systematic progression of the destruction of what was once termed the Judeo-Christian culture of the Western world, and in particular the United States. The attack on our time and culture and values actually started in our colleges in the 20s, maybe even before that, accelerated some with John Dewey in the 1930s, and then came World War II, and World War II really changed things. When World War II came, the culture of the nation began to shift as the nation shifted from an agriculture-based economy to an industrialized economy, and people moved from the country to the city, and even those living out some distance oftentimes would take jobs in the city. And all of this, especially as you drive across the south from Dallas all the way to the Atlantic Ocean in Georgia, those lands across there that now are heavily forested used to be agricultural lands. They used to be filled with cotton and corn and beans and all kinds of things. Now 80 or 90 percent, actually most stats say that over 90 percent of our people live in the city, and they call it urbanization. The aftermath of the Korean War increased the attack on the established culture, and things really began to accelerate.

But as I have lived a long life in the terms of what they consider a long life today, I would say the 1950s were the most pleasant time in my lifetime. And of course, you will see various programs and things about what things were like in the 50s. That was only 72 years ago or so. After the war, politicians began to think of the U.S. more and more in a global sense, and of course that had even begun at the end of World War I when Woodrow Wilson drew up his 14 points and tried to establish the League of Nations, which the U.S. Congress failed to ratify Wilson's 14 points, and the U.S. never was a part of Wilson's 14 points, though some nations did try to join in and support it. So after World War II, the leadership of the country, and especially politicians, began to absorb themselves in global economics and politics. And during the Korean War, General Douglas MacArthur saw through the Chinese Communist goal of helping the Communists gain a foothold on North Korea.

Of course, we had a lot of men. One of my teammates in college football fought in the Korean War. He was 30 years old when he came to the college and having fought in the Korean War, and he told all kinds of stories about how brutal that war was. It was a brutal war. South Korea versus North Korea. And of course, there is the zone now in the so-called non-military, military-rise zone between North and South Korea. And we see that North Korea became Communists and a dictatorship, and the two leaders that have the father and now the son have really caused a lot of concern on the world scene. MacArthur advocated defeating the Chinese going after them. They were the real enemy. He said we need to follow them into Manchuria and then on the mainland. If need be, we need to defeat the Chinese.

But President Truman relieved him of his command and ordered him to come home. And MacArthur responded, we have had our last opportunity. And from that day forward, we have been involved in various wars and conflicts, and it has been basically one of appeasement and withdrawal. MacArthur's noted for the quote, old soldiers never die. They just fade away. Are you fading away in the face of the great battles that lie before us? Am I fading away at this critical crucial time in human history? Are the old Christian soldiers fading away? Do we have new young invigorated men and women, boys and girls, ready to stand in the gap and make up the hedge, as Ezekiel writes in Ezekiel 22 and verse 30?

And I sought for a man among them that should make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me for the land that I should not destroy it, but I found none. Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with fire of my wrath, their own way, have a recompense upon their heads, says the Lord God. Now let's note the verses leading up to that statement and see if it's relevant to what we're facing today. Let's focus on what Ezekiel says leading up to that statement. Now let's start in verse 23. Ezekiel 22 and verse 23, and the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, say unto her, You are the land that is not cleansed nor rained upon in the day of ending nation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof. Of course, perhaps you have followed the Sussman trial in which they are now coming to understand that the Dossiade in which they said there was this great connection between the Trump administration and Russia was indeed a hoax, and this man lied to the FBI.

There is a conspiracy for prophets in the land thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey they have devoured souls. They have taken the treasure and precious things. They have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law and have profaned my holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and the profane. That's where we are today. There is no difference between the holy and the profane. The profane has a word that has to do with the of this world, secular, apart from God. No difference between the sacred and the profane.

Holy things... I've tried to get this over. Holy things have God's active presence within them. That's why the brethren are called holy people, holy saints. Sacred things point to a higher reality. We sing sacred songs. They put no difference between the holy and profane. Neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean. And have hid their eyes from my Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. And there is an all-out attack on the Bible, on the Word of God. And on the churches of the land and the ministers that would stand and tell the truth. How long will we be able to stand and read certain scriptures from the Bible? I don't know. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves, ravening the prey to shed blood and to destroy souls to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have dobbed them with untempered mortar, seeing vanity and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus says the Lord God, when the Lord hath not spoken. In another place in Ezekiel, Ezekiel talks about they whitewashed the walls and make it appear like everything is all right. So you have the media, all the major networks that are involved in having you to believe that everything is all right.

That the economy is doing well. And on and on it goes about covering up that the reality of where the people really are. The people of the land have used oppression and exercise robbery, have vexed the poor and needy, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully, and I sought for a person. I sought for a person to stand in the gap and make up the hedge, but I found none. At that time, I found none. But will they find, will God find faithful men and women in our day, in our age? All of us are to serve as watchmen in our families, and there is a special charge to the ministry. But all of us must be watchmen. Let's turn now to Ezekiel 33. Ezekiel 33, forward a few pages there. In Ezekiel 33, we'll start in verse 1. In Ezekiel 33, verse 1, again, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon the land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for their watchmen, who is going to tell the people? If the church of God doesn't tell the people, who will tell the people? Well, there are many voices crying out. I watched some of them yesterday on YouTube. Many, many voices are crying out, both secular and religious voices. Well, we are the only people that really understand the nature of God, the plan and purpose of God. Who is God? What is God? What is his purpose? Who is man? What is man? What is his purpose? We are the only ones that understand that man does not have an immortal soul. That man doesn't go directly to hell or to heaven upon death. There are so many precious truths there that we understand. If when he sees the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people, then whosoever hears the sound of the trumpet and take not warning if the sword come and take him away, his blood should be upon his own head upon the watchman's head. Each one of us is a watchman for our family, especially the parents.

He heard the sound of the trumpet. He took not warning. His blood should be upon him, but he that takes warning shall deliver his life essence. That's what soul means. But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned, if the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his lawlessness, but his blood will not require at the watchman's hand. O, so you, O Son of Man, I've set you a watchman upon the house of Israel. Therefore, you shall hear the word at my mouth and warn them from me.

And I say unto you that we are all watchmen, that God has ordained a structure for society. He has ordained a structure for the family. The husband is the head of the woman. The parents are ahead of the children. The children are to be obedient. The structure is very clear in the scripture. I don't care what the modern-day people say or what the psychologists say. We are either going to believe what the scripture says or we're going to believe something else. Each one of us must be a watchman because each one of us, I think this is one of the things that we tend to forget, but each one of us is daily standing before the judgment seat of God. I don't care how old you are or how young you are. Let's read it from Ezekiel once again in Ezekiel 14 verse 14. Ezekiel 14 and verse 14.

Ezekiel 14 verse 14. Those these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, three very righteous people. Though these three were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, says the Lord. I'm not going to give an account for you. You're not going to give an account for me. Your wife is not going to give an account for you and you're not going to give an account for your wife. You're not going to give an account for your children and the children are not going to give an account for you. Each person stands before the judgment seat of Christ.

If I cause the noise of the beast to pass through the land and they spoil it so that it be desolate that no man may pass through because of the beast. Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they should deliver neither sons nor daughters.

They only shall be delivered but the land shall be desolate. Verse 18, though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters but they only shall be delivered themselves. And it goes on and on, making it very clear. The judgment is now on the house of God. Judgment is not on the world at the present time. God is not judging the world at the present time.

He is going to judge the world but He is judging us. He is judging us right now and no one will ride into the kingdom of God on the coattails of any other person. So whether your parents are faithful or not, it's going to come down to you.

Whether your wife or husband is faithful or not, it's going to come down to you. Judgment is now on the church of God. We're being judged now so we won't be judged with the world. I got to thinking several days ago, things are pretty trying right now. A lot of trials, a lot of difficulties. And then I thought, what about the apostles and what they went through, and especially Paul, John, and Peter.

According to the legend, all of the apostles were martyred, save maybe John. They attempted to martyr him, which we'll talk about in a moment, but apparently not successful. After all they had gone through, after all that Peter had gone through, after all that Paul had gone through, after all that John had gone through. Look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 32. For example, with Paul, why would God allow Paul to fight with the beast in the arena at Ephesus, knowing that he might be killed?

And eventually he was martyred. 1 Corinthians 15, 32. We'll read 31. I protest by your rejoicing, which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die daily. I mean, at baptism we said we were crucified with Christ. We're going to put to death the old man, the new man is going to live. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage it may mean? What advantage, awkwardly worded here, what advantage is that to me, even though I have fought with the beast at Ephesus, if the dead rise not?

If there is no resurrection from the dead, in which some in Corinth were saying there is no resurrection from the dead? So what advantage, even though I've done that, if the dead doesn't rise? If that is so, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die, and that's it.

That's what the world have you to believe right now. They offer no hope for life beyond this life. There is no hope presented beyond this life by any of these people. It is all right now. Get your thing right now. There are a few different traditions regarding how the Apostle Paul died, but the most commonly accepted one comes from the writings of Eusebius. Eusebius was a noted early church historian. Eusebius writes that Paul was beheaded in 67 AD by Nero in May or early June.

Nero committed suicide on June the 9th, 67 AD. So Paul was probably beheaded after all that he had done, after all 14 books he had written in the New Testament. According to legend stories, the Apostle John was put in a pot of boiling oil, but it did not kill him, and apparently he died in exile on the Isle of Patmos, where he received the vision and the revelation of the book of Revelation.

But it might be the most sobering martyr of all times was the Apostle Peter, who was told by the resurrected Christ that he, Peter, would be crucified upside down. No matter how faithful he was, no matter what he did, Jesus Christ, the resurrected Christ, told Peter, you will be crucified. This is how you will leave this earthly existence. So what if you had to live your life, knowing that would be how it would end?

I call the Apostle Peter the Apostle of Hope. Peter, after his conversion, was never, never wavered through it all, and he lived his life knowing that he would leave this life through crucifixion, and I call him the Apostle of Hope. So let's note what Peter writes in 1 Peter 4. 1 Peter 4 will begin in verse 7. 1 Peter 4 and verse 7.

1 Peter 4 and verse 7.

But the end of all things is at hand. Apparently Peter wrote this toward the end of his life. He knew how he was going to die. And so in view of all of the things that he had gone through, and all the things that he knew that the brethren would go through in the future, what words did he have to offer them? Be you therefore watchful, O King James says sober. Be watchful. Be on guard. Watch unto prayer. And above all things have fervent charity, love, agape, among yourselves. For agape, love, charity, shall cover the multitude of sins. Now there's like a double thing that we should mention there. Some people may see their brother in sin and say, oh I love him. That's okay. That's not what the scripture says. The scripture says that you turn one about and you save a soul. It's the last verse in James, I believe. But on the other hand, there is the love that people have in which they try to not make other people look bad. That they do everything they can do to build up others instead of tearing them down. For love shall cover the multitude of sins. That doesn't mean you just say, if you see a person consistently sinning and you know that that's going to lead him to destruction, you don't say, oh well I love him. I'll pray for him and that's it. No, the Bible says from Genesis and Revelation that you are your brother's keeper and you must exercise judgment, mercy, and faith with your brother. Use hospitality one to another without grudging, as every man has received the gift, even so ministered the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. What grace has God extended to us? He's extended to us the plan of salvation. He's given us the opportunity for eternal life to live forever in his family, in a state of being, and in an environment in which the Bible says, eye is not seen, ear is not heard, neither has it entered into the hearts of man what God has prepared for those that love him. That grace is a grace that cannot even be fathomed in the deepest sense, in the human sense. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God, in other words, according to the word of God. If any man minister, let him do it as the ability which God gives. That God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praised, dominion, forever and ever. Amen. And then, remember what Paul went through, remember what John went through, remember what Peter went through. And Peter then says, Beloved, thinketh not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you as though some strange thing happened unto you. I mean, the trials that we have are paled into inconsequential, inconsequential in comparison to what Christ went through. And of course, God the Father was there watching, and I'm sure he was grieved. You know, it says in Genesis 6, because of thoughts in the heart, the intents of man was continuing on evil, God was grieved. But rejoice in as much as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings. He suffered, so we're suffering.

That when his glory shall be revealed, you may be glad also with exceeding joy. If you be reproach for the name of Christ, happy are you for the Spirit of glory, and of God rest upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

This morning I woke up at about 6 30, and I lay there for several minutes, and decided I needed to get my nap out. So I went back to sleep.

I dreamed that we had highly advertised a Bible study that I would be conducting on Sunday mornings around noon time, around 11 o'clock or so. And as I walked into the room and began to survey the room, I was concerned about the Blackboard because I used to like to use the Blackboard in teaching, and I looked at the audience, and I realized that I didn't recognize anyone in the room. And I thought, well, where are all the local people? Where are they? Where are the church people? It's a dream, not a vision.

And as we began to try to decide if 11 o'clock was the best time to hold a Bible study, and I woke up, it's now 8 0 2, so I got up and I wondered, you know, could this be reflective of where we are? But it's just a dream. But what about you and me? Will we fade into the woodwork of inaction and fade away while we are still able to make a difference? Will we deny the power of God? Mr. Gonzalez read this verse I want to read a little farther down in 2 Timothy chapter 3. If you'll turn there, 2 Timothy chapter 3. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Paul talks about the perilous time shall come, men lovers of themselves, and all the things that go with that. And then he says in verse 7, ever learning and ever able to come to the knowledge of the truth. And then verse 5, he says, having a form of godliness. What is a form of godliness? Going to church, doing the things that church people do.

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away. Now what is the power thereof? The power thereof is the power of the word and spirit of God to change our conscience, our being, so that we actually take a sermon or a Bible study or whatever exhortation we might receive and that we actually do something with it. We don't just sit and passively listen, we actually do something with it.

So they deny the power of the word and spirit of God through inaction, while sitting in the seat of the scornful.

Rock music made its inroads in the youth culture and some adults embraced it in the 50s and through the 60s along with other forms of music and entertainment that advocated the overthrow of the established culture. Down with the establishment, up with the loved children. Let's go to Amos chapter 3. Amos chapter 3.

And we'll begin in verse 1. And Amos chapter 3.

Hear the word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up out of the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he have taken nothing?

So I think one of the main things that happened to the church was it through the 50s, 60s, 70s, and into the 80s, the cry of prophecy and the end is near. We're in the gun lab, and we're about to finish it, and we want to be sure we can go to a place of safety and all that stuff. And the real reason why God has called you into his family. And Paul makes that clear. I'll just quote this in 1 Corinthians 13 where it says that, Though I have all knowledge, understand all mysteries, have faith that I can remove mountains and have not charity, it profits me nothing. You could have all of that knowledge. You can see after the voice Herbert Armstrong died, and prophecy sort of faded away, so did the people.

Because they were not here for the right reason. The right reason is to become as God and Christ are.

Will a lion roar in the forest? When he has no prey, will a young lion cry out of his den if he hath taken nothing? Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth wherein no gin is for him? That's a trap. Shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing? Shall a trumpet be blown in the city? I'm blowing the trumpet today. Shall the trumpet be blown and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in the city and the Lord shall not do it?

Surely the Lord will do nothing unless he reveal it unto his servants the province.

So we are crying out here today, and we hope that everyone will hear. Return to Amos chapter 5 verse 6. Seek the Lord and you shall live, lest ye break out like fire in the house of Joseph and devour it, and there be none to quench yet in Bethel. You who turn judgment to wormwood and leave off righteousness in the earth, seek him that made the seven stars in Orion. Turn the shadow of death into the morning and make the day dark with night. They call for the waters of the sea and pours them upon the face of the earth. The Lord is his name. So rock music made its way into the culture in the 50s and 60s, advocating the overthrow of the established culture. And along with this came the drug drench hippie movement that spread from California through the nation, and they still talk about Woodstock.

Then came in 1973 Roe v. Wade. Abortion on demand became basically the law of the land. Millions of unborn fetuses have been aborted during the last 49 years. The estimate is around 60 million. The past four years, the U.S. has averaged 800 to 900,000, almost a million each year, abortions. 86% of all abortions are performed for unmarried women.

The progressives have captured the hearts and minds of the majority of young people in the name of personal rights and freedom. Don't tell me what I can do with my body. I'll do whatever I want to do with my body. And we have attempted to develop a way where you don't have to pay for it. The government and progressives have tried to create a society of total toleration, which means you can violate any law of God and not have to pay the penalty. And as this was going on, the educational institutions of the nation were being infiltrated with communist social doctrine of the progressive leftists. Now their doctrine is taught and defended from the halls of higher education to pre-kindergarten. Six- and seven-year-old children are being bombarded with adult sexual material. In public education, the progressive socialist far-left agenda is taught with a passion and an old-time religious revival.

Might have an altar call. Those who oppose are labeled as domestic terrorists, as was recently noted by Attorney General of the United States Merrick Garland. And all-out battles being waged to normalize anti-biblical sexual behavior. And sadly, those who don't go that route are quick to accept those who do. This is what's happening among the news commentators, even on Fox and other channels. They will say what they do is their own distance. But let's wait till adulthood before we. That's how they are able to justify what they're doing.

If God who made us male and female, it is God who made us male and female. It is God who ordained marriage, family, which parallels to a large degree what God is doing, and bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family. If you destroy gender, if you destroy marriage and family, you destroy the foundation of the plan of salvation for humankind. We all love our children dearly, and we should not throw them away or cut them off, but we can make it clear what God has ordained and created them male and female, and ordaining the great institution of marriage and family. The greatest institution on the earth is the church. The second greatest institution on the earth is the family, marriage and family.

Marriage, and hopefully there will be family. Marriage and family parallels to a large degree what God is doing in the spiritual realm, in bringing sons and daughters to glory. You destroy that, you attack that, you destroy the plan of God.

What does Scripture say about this? Most ministers would shy away from this scripture I'm about to read. The Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 through 11. You can turn there if you want to. 1 Corinthians 6, verses 9 through 11.

How long will we be able to read this without going to jail, or arrested, or whatever? I don't know. I know it won't be popular. It may not even be popular by some people who attend church. I hope not.

So but the Apostle Paul, who is ballyhooed by the Protestants as the Apostle of Grace and the only believed crowd of nominal professing Christianity, writes, Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? And this is Paul writing this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I didn't write it. It's been preserved for two thousand years. Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, and you can add women there as well, the lesbians, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkers, nor revelers, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. As such were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 7, 19. I remember him taking a graduate course theology department at Bessam U.

Back in 1990, I think it was, that I quoted this verse, 1 Corinthians 7, 19, and oh, the instructor took great exception. That was just sort of an anomaly that Paul was talking about there. That's really not what is meant by that. It says, circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God. I've just read two passages from the writings of the Apostle of Grace, the Apostle Paul. This movement that's underway toward the destruction of western culture has moved slowly like an Ice Age glacier, inexorably toward its goal. It's moved sometimes almost imperceptibly, but it's ever moving toward the goal. It slows a bit at a time when so-called conservatives are elected as president, but the agenda moved forward under Reagan. It moved forward under Trump, not as rapidly, but it moved. The LGBTQ community has blossomed more and more, and the growth in the past few couple of years has been incomprehensible.

People talk about the incompetence of the current president and his cognitive ability, and that may be true. It is not so much that as the relentless policies that attack the Bible, the Constitution, the values of common sense and decency, he is merely a pawn. So what does this and so much more mean for those who know the truth?

We have those around the world who attend the Church of God services, who apparently think they're free to make God over into their own image.

God has all the merciful qualities and characteristics that any language can conjure up.

He is merciful, forgiving, long-suffering, he's compassionate.

He loved humanity so much that he was willing to give his only begotten son, to die for the sins of the world, to redeem us, to give us the very essence of his being, the Holy Spirit. See, God is Spirit. That's what he is, and that's what he has allowed us to partake of. But as we have noted, God is also a God of judgment and exactness. Mercy, glory is against judgment, but judgment precedes ultimate mercy. How so? How does mercy, glory against judgment? So let's note that the verse of James 2.13 that states this. James 2.13, verse of the general epistles right after Hebrews, James 2.13.

For he shall have judgment without mercy, that has shown no mercy, and mercy rejoices against judgment. How does mercy rejoice against judgment? You see, in order for ultimate mercy to be extended, one has to confess their sins. We have the example of the Pharisee and the public, and he went up into the temple to pray. The Pharisees, the Pharisee, thanked God that he was not like other men. He fasted twice in the week. He gave tithes of all that he possessed. But the publican, not so much as lifting up his eyes, said, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. He judged himself. And then Jesus says, I tell you, this man went to his house, justified. Not the Pharisee, but the publican. You see, before ultimate mercy can be extended, you have to repent of your sins. Go forward there to 1 John 1, verse 8. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, we have to judge ourselves. How do you judge yourself? By the Word of God. Of course, some people may help judge you. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. Forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and the Word is not in us. My little children, these things lie right unto you, that you sin not, but if any man sin. We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is a propituation. He went in our stead for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. And hereby, we know that we know him if we keep his commandments. He that says, I know him and keeps not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keeps his Word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby, we know that we are in him. How do you know you're in him if you keep his commandments? So God is long-suffering. He is merciful. But don't confuse long-suffering with forgiveness and ultimate mercy. So what do you think about the irony of our times? Should we obey Isaiah 58.1, which says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression in the house of Jacob, their sins? Should we obey Luke 21.36, which says, watch you therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man? Should we heed the pleading of Jude, who writes in Jude 1.3, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith once delivered? Should we obey Revelation 3 in verse 19, which says, as many as I love, I rebuke and chase it. Be zealous therefore and repent. So today I've tried to exhort you not to be caught up in the irony of the times. I've exhorted you to take personal responsibility for your life because you are standing before the judgment seat of Christ on a daily basis. Judgment is now in the house of God. It's not on the world. It's on us. So I've tried to impress upon you that you're being judged. I urge you to begin a running conversation with your Father, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, that never ends.

So 70% of the time there is downtime with the human mind in which you can be carrying on a conversation. Most people talk to themselves. It might be better to talk to God.

So this is the time to embrace the faith once delivered by Christ and the apostles, and not be caught up in the irony of the times.