For Such a Time as This

The U.S. is once again headed toward a mud-slinging election year. Republicans are against the Democrats, the Republican candidates are against each other, the Democratic candidates are against each other, the people are against all of them, Democratic and Republican. The media and people are hypocritically concerned about the morality of the candidates, but excuse themselves. Everyone is concerned about ISIS, immigration and economic welfare, but no one is really concerned about the moral and spiritual welfare of the nation. Turn to Hosea 4, verse 1. It is tantamount to reading your morning newspaper, which no one does anymore, but anyhow, listening to the newscast or looking on your computer at Drudge Report or whatever it might be. Hosea 4, beginning in verse 1, Hosea describes the condition that will be extant at the end of this age. Hear the word of the eternal you children of Israel, for the Lord hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth nor mercy nor knowledge of God in the land. By swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery, they break out, and blood touches blood. Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwells therein shall languish with the beasts of the field, with the fowls of heaven. Yes, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away. Yet let no one strive nor approve another, for your people are as they that strive with the priests. What that verse is saying in a rather obscure way is that everybody is involved from the head to the toe, from the religious leaders to the political leaders to the man on the street. Therefore shall you fall in the day, and the prophet also shall fall with you in the night, and I will destroy your mother. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, because you have rejected knowledge. I will also reject you. Seeing you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children. We talked about today in our club meeting how necessary it is for parents to teach their children to have them develop as soon as they possibly can, a relationship with God, and how important that is so that they understand that there is a supreme power, that there is knowledge that is available, spiritual knowledge that transcends physical knowledge, knowledge and understanding that will stand the test of time against the clever arguments of the day.

Now we go to Hosea 8 concerning the leadership of the land. Some people think, based on Scripture in Daniel 4, that God sets up and removes leaders, and at time to time he does intervene.

And he does set up at times, and he does remove at times. But by and large he lets people select, choose however they want to do it, or however they do do it, the leaders of the land. And to a large degree, at times, he's hands-off. So you look at Hosea 8, verse 3, Israel cast off the thing that is good.

The enemy shall pursue him. They have set up kings, but not by me. They have made princes, and I knew it not. Now their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off. So God says he's set up leaders, but not by me. And God, to a large degree, has taken a hands-off approach until we repent. And some of our discussions and council meetings talk about growth and that kind of thing, and what kind of period are we in.

We have more and more hits on the Internet. We have more coworkers than ever. We have more donors, but yet growth is static at best. And it seems that the door with regard to growth has been closed, and we are in a period of time, I think, of testing. Who is going to stand? Who is going to be faithful before God and Christ? Because, as you heard in the sermonette, we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess. So in the face of the state of the nation and the world, what role has God called you to fulfill?

Are you, as Esther, called to the kingdom for such a time as this? Look at Esther, a book in the Bible that we turned to very seldom back in the Old Testament before the book of Psalms.

There, I want to go to Esther 4. In Esther 4, verse 14, you know the story of Esther, a young, beautiful woman, probably 19, 20 years old. She was made one of the queens of Persia. And at the same time, the evil Haman had hatched a plot against the Jews to destroy them. Mordecai heard of this, so he appealed to Esther to go before the king and plead the case of the Jews that they would not be destroyed. Esther at first protested and said, you know, if I go before him and I'm not bidding to come in, then it is my life.

I may be killed because of that. And she was very hesitant. But then Mordecai implored her in verse 12, and they told of Mordecai Esther's words. Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with yourself that you shall escape in the king's house more than all the Jews. Well, if they go, you go too, because you're also a Jewish. And if you altogether hold your peace at this time, then shall their enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place.

But then and your father's house shall be destroyed. And who knows whether you'll come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Has God called you into the church for such a time as this? Today I want to remind us what the masses will be doing as this present evil age led by Satan the devil, leads the world into oblivion. What will the masses be doing?

And at the same time as the peoples of this world go down the path of death and destruction, what does God expect you to do and for me to do in response to that? Up front, we should have indelibly stamped on our minds that we are to be ambassadors for Christ, for the kingdom of God, for the government that will replace all the world's earthly governments, whether it be democratic, dictatorial, or whatever form it might take.

There are several strategies and behaviors that people are employing and will be employing now and in the future. So what position do you think so many of the people will take? I think a lot of people in the Church will take this position, and some people perhaps already taking this position. This is not a time to sit on your hands. This is not a time to bury your talent. This is a time to try to contribute everything that you possibly can, especially in the spiritual sense to the body of Christ, to encourage one another.

I think most people will become apathetic and withdraw and make God over in their own image, and they will become lukewarm at best. It is ironic and paradoxical in a time such as this that people would take on such a position. You look at what is the anecdote, what does God expect us to do in the face of this?

Well, you look at Revelation 3. In Revelation 2 and 3, we have the messages to the seven churches. In Revelation 3, God talks about this thing of apathy, withdrawal.

Revelation 3, verse 14, "...and to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things, says the Amen, the faithful true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither hot nor cold. I would you were cold or hot.

You cannot..." God says that those who are not with me are against me. There is no middle ground. Once again, I say there is no middle ground. And a lot of people try to play, as they say, both ends against the middle. So what it reminds me of Russia, on the one hand they're for you, and on the other hand they're against you.

"...so then, because you are lukewarm, neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth. Because you say I am rich and creased with goods, and have need of nothing, no knot, that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. I counsel you to buy of me gold, tried in the fire, the highest form of character in the physical sense, and it is in the fiery furnace of life, that that kind of character can be developed. White rheumont that you might be clothed with rheumont. White rheumont, figuratively speaking, is the righteousness of the saints. And righteousness has to do with obeying God. All your commandments are righteous. Psalm 119, verse 172.

That you may be clothed, and that the shame of your nakedness, nakedness symbolizes sin in the Bible, do not appear and anoint your eyes what I say have, that you may see, that you may see spiritually. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, be zealous. In other words, be on fire, be hot, and repent. So that's what God expects of us now. In the face of lukewarmness, in the face of apathy, in the face of trying to play both ends against the middle, to be on fire.

Secondly, they will reason that things are so big, they can't make a difference. Who am I? In national elections, the average voter turnout is 25 percent or lower, showing the apathy of the people. I know that most of you don't vote. I don't think I've ever voted in my life, even before my church age. So my time in the church. But one person can do a lot. One person, just one voice. There was a song titled that, just one voice. One person crying aloud. John the Baptist was one person who turned the world upside down, preparing the way for Jesus Christ. Look at Mark 1. Mark 1 takes up from Malachi 3, where it's prophesied that one would come on the scene, that would prepare the way, and that one was John the Baptist. So in Mark 1 and in verse 1, Mark 1, 1, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news from the Son of God, as it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger, my Angelos. The Greek word is Angelos. A messenger can be a human being or a divine being. John the Baptist, a human being. Before your face, which shall prepare the way before you, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. John did baptize in the wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, and there went out unto him all the land of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and they were all baptized of him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. So John turned that land upside down in about six months, one person crying aloud, sparing not. Why was he able to do it with such power and with such conviction? Because God was with him. That was his mission. That was his assignment. And sometimes we think, well, we'll withdraw. We'll do this. We'll do that. We will try to be politically correct. We will sit back. We'll wait. Another thing they'll be doing, they'll be trying to escape from reality by partying. Look at Matthew 24, the Olivette Prophecy. Matthew 24. So in each of these behaviors that will be extant before Jesus Christ returns at the end of this age, there's something that we need to be doing. So one of the great mentalities of the day is escapism. People work at their drudgery-filled jobs, which so many are, five days a week. They look forward to the weekend, and then they party through the weekend, stumble into work on Monday, and ready to do it all over again. In Matthew 24, beginning in verse 8 or 9 here, verse 9, Matthew 24, then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, shall kill you, and shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. Why will you be hated? Because you are able to show the world, and that'll be one of the great jobs of the two witnesses, what is happening to them. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many, and because iniquity, lawlessness shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. In simple, everyday language, what does this mean? It means that people will reason, they'll use human reasoning, to say, well, everybody else is doing this, it must be okay. And so we join in with the crowd. And we have developed a tyranny of the peer group and political correctness. God expects us, on the other hand, to face reality and to be prepared. Look at Ecclesiastes chapter 7. In Ecclesiastes chapter 7 and verse 1, I know that some people will find some of these verses, as they say, hard to swallow, maybe you curl your toes a bit. We have a lot of verses here to talk about today.

A good name is better than precious ointment in the day of death than the day of one's birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. Now, you cannot escape the reality of the day no matter what escape mechanism you want to use. Some turn to drugs, alcohol, to partying, to whatever kind of escape mechanism that they can come up with. But there's really no escape.

And a lot go into a state of denial. And a lot quote 2 Peter 3, all things continuous from the beginning. Oh, this is just a cycle. We've been through these cycles before, and so it goes. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart has made better. But see, you have to face reality. You have to be sobered. And some people refuse to be sobered. I remember back here, several years ago, we had a young man in this area who was a leader in wild use, seemed to be somewhat of a model young man around 16, 17 years of age.

And I got this phone call, and it was one of the hardest situations you can face. He had taken a .22 rifle and brought it to his head, and he had shot himself. He committed suicide.

That was on a Friday, sometime Friday morning.

And then the next day of Sabbath, I had the sermon. Of course, at that time, we had a thousand or more at Sabbath services. And there was more disturbance kind of things than by the youth than had been in a long time.

That was their way of escaping, not facing the reality of the day, the reality out of sight, out of mind. You think that's going to reach us? You think you can play off this? And so one of the things that's the state of mind of people today, and not really understanding what is important.

Verse 4, The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.

So they go to the night spots in the various places, drink, smoke, do whatever, live it up, escape from reality, their humdrum existence, because they have no great transcendental purpose in their lives. So God expects us to face reality.

And that leads into the next behavior that will be extant. They will join the crowd. Everybody is doing it. And so what does God say? Look at 2 Corinthians 6. In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14, what does God say with regard to whether or not you are going to join in, whether or not you are going to be a victim of the peer group, whether or not you'll be a victim of political correctness. Look at 2 Corinthians 6, verse 14.

But what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them, walk in them, I will be their God, they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, says the eternal in touch, not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. So this is what God says in response to those who say, well, everybody else is doing it. That's the way the world is going. So why fight the crowd? Let's just all join in.

Another thing they'll be doing, they'll despise those who stand for God's way of life. Those who stand up, they'll be called square, they'll be called party poopers. So let's look at 2 Timothy chapter 3. 2 Timothy chapter 3. What does God say with regard to the end times and the behaviors that will be extant at that time?

In 2 Timothy chapter 3, Just know that in the last days perilous times shall come. Men shall be lovers of their own selves. Covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful and holy without natural affection. Truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Oh, who do you think you are? Some goody-two-shoes. Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are telling us how to live? Just look at your life. See, there's no perfect person per se, and any of us who get up and cry aloud and spare not, obviously, all of us have flaws and faults.

And it's very easy to criticize, thinking that somehow you're justified by criticizing the messenger with Jesus Christ. Oh, he's that illegitimate son of Joseph and Mary. Oh, he's a belial! So two of the most disheartening, discouraging kind of comments that you can make about a person is to call them illegitimate and to say that they are motivated by Satan the devil.

So think it not strange that the same thing would happen to us. If you stand in the gap, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness by denying the power thereof from such, turn away. That is not the way to go. A form of godliness. Oh, they may go to church, they may take their Bible, they may not, they may do this, that, or the other. But are they filling their lamps with oil?

Are they growing in grace and knowledge? Are they growing spiritually? God says in Proverbs 8.13 that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Look at Isaiah 59, verse 15. Isaiah 59, verse 15. Dr. Baker sent me this week the news about Barbara Walters.

The most interesting person of the year, according to Barbara Walters, is Caitlyn Jenner, who is now given hope to the transgenders. But they too can be loved and accepted just like everyone else, even though it flies in the face of what God has ordained and structured for the family. Here's this most interesting person of the year, one who has provided hope for the transgenders.

You can see on these talk shows and programs, the people that stand up for the truth, their mood, and those who have fallen into moral depravity are cheered. And Isaiah 59, verse 15. Yes, truth fails or falls, and he that departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the eternal saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.

And that's where we are. And it's going to get worse. Now, what does God say about this? Are we to fold? Are we to be intimidated? Look at Ezekiel 2. I believe that one of the assignments that God has given to the end-time church is that of a watchman. So you look at Ezekiel 2. Ezekiel was given the commission to be a watchman for the house of Israel and Judah, and though Israel had already gone into captivity at that time, do a word search in Ezekiel and see how many times Israel is mentioned along with Judah, probably more often than Judah.

In Ezekiel 2, verse 1, And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak unto you. And the Spirit entered into me when he spoke unto me, and set me upon my feet, that I heard him that spoke unto me. And he said unto me, Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against me, and their fathers have transgressed against me even unto this very day.

For they are impotent children and stiff-necked. I do send you unto them, and you shall say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God. Not thus saith any person you want to name, or any movement you want to name, Thus saith the Lord God. This is the word of God. There is no higher authority in the world or in the land. Contrary to some who say, oh, through science, through knowledge, through human reasoning.

Well, human reasoning has got us where we are now. Human reasoning apart from the word of God. Verse 5, And they, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are a rebellious house, yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with you, and you shall dwell among scorpions. Be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house, and you shall speak my words unto them, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious. But you, son of man, hear what I say unto you, be not you rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth, and eat that I give you. And when I looked, behold, there was sent unto me a roll, a book, and you spread it before me, and it was written within and without, and there was written therein, lamentation and mourning and woe.

So you cannot be intimidated by whatever is out there. The hard looks, the posture, the fact that you may be counted as an outcast. Another thing they'll be doing, they will say, My Lord delays His coming. You look at Matthew 24 again, the apostles had asked Jesus Christ, What is the sign of your coming in the end of the age?

And Jesus Christ gave them several signs. And toward the end of Matthew 24, we come with these words. Jesus spoke these words in Matthew chapter 24, beginning in 47.

Verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods. And that's in response to verse 46. Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he comes, shall find so doing. But and if, verse 48, that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays his coming. It's in his heart, it's through his actions. It is not through what he says. It is through what's in his being and what his actions are. Not his words. You'll very seldom see anybody out there crying, Christ is not coming anytime soon. It is through their actions. But in that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunken. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he's not aware of. And so smiting of the fellow servants. And we have seen a scattering of the Church of God. As we could hardly imagine, they say there are hundreds of splinter groups from what was once known as the Worldwide Church of God. And to a large degree, what has happened is people criticizing one another, accusing one another of not remaining true to the Word of God. They've somewhat painted everybody into a corner, if they want to be painted in that corner, of nothing can change. No new truth, no greater understanding. We just got to stay where we were, even if it's an error. And even if it's pointed out, some would argue it's not true. Of course, even after Columbus, the Scurrubiter Americans, several other explorers had gone out way before Columbus, there were still those who insisted that the earth is flat, and there still today the flat earth society. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder and appoint him as portion with the hypocrites, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then there should be no chapter break, because this prophecy continues to the 1st or 2nd verses of chapter 26. Then when all these things are going on, the kingdom of heaven shall be likened unto ten virgins which took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Five were prepared, five were not, and you know the story. So now is the time to fill the lamp with oil.

The Bible says that we are to love one another. We talked about that last week. And that the love of God consists of keeping the commandments our scripture of the day. The Bible also says, look at Hebrews chapter 10, one of the other ironies of the day, and some of the studies that they've done with regard to the personal appearance campaigns, who will come, who will respond.

As the truth was being preached the first time the truth had been preached on a broad scale in decades or maybe even hundreds of years, as Herbert Armstrong got on radio stations throughout the nation, crying aloud and sparing not, and people from all around the world could hear on the radio, and they wanted to go to church. And they might find out, well, there is a church in X place, but it's 150 miles away.

Well, so what? We want the truth. We want to hear the truth.

Oh, yes, our old car has 100,000 miles on it. The tires are pretty bare. We can't really afford it. We want to hear the truth. So exciting. But now they've discovered, like if you're doing a public appearance campaign in Houston, you want to do one on the east side, one on the west side, because sort of the limit is 20 miles, 18 to 20 miles. So the one that's going to be done in Chicago in 2016, they'll do two, one on the north side and one on the south side. So people will then drive 15, 18 miles. But the psalmist writes, you know, how the deer pants for the water. How do we pant for the truth? Do we want to hear the truth? Are we excited about it? In Hebrews 10, verse 21, Without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke one another to good works, to provoke meaning to encourage, to stimulate, to motivate, to do whatever you can to help people grow spiritually, to encourage them, to inspire them, to lift them up. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a manner of some is, but exhorting one another in so much the more as you see the day approaching. And that is what the response that God wants us to have at this time. Another response attitude will be, they will despise government.

Let's turn to 2 Peter 2. In today's world, there is no one or no issue or decision that is not dissected and criticized. And I guarantee you that they'll be able to find something wrong with it. You know, the story is told of the guy who's broken down on the freeway, has a flat tire, someone stops to help him. Well, he could have done that better. He didn't take the tire of the truck just right. He didn't turn the rim just right. He didn't tighten the lugs sufficiently. He didn't put the hubcap on just right. I mean, when we come to the point where every last vestige of every action is dissected on television, alive and in color, where are we? In 2 Peter 2 and verse 10, once again, a description of the attitude mentality of the day. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they're not afraid to speak evil of dignities, whereas angels which are greater in power and might bring not railing accusation against them before the eternal. Now, there are two sides, I guess you could say, to the coin here, that it says that we're to pray for our leaders and pray that they succeed, putting it in my words, but the essence of what God says to do. But yet, on the other hand, we are not to pretend and say that good is evil and evil is good, neither. Leviticus 19.15 says that we are to judge righteous judgment. You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, but you shall judge righteous judgment. That's Leviticus 19 and verse 15.

See here, verse 11 says, which angels greater in power? In Jude, it talks about that when Michael was disputing for the body of Moses with the devil. Of course, the devil would love to have had Moses' body set up a shrine so people would worship the person of Moses, and even with Moses' gravesite being hidden from the world. The Jews kept on bringing up Moses as the great example and the law of Moses when Jesus Christ came on the scene. So God allowed Moses, and Michael, of course, did. Somehow the body of Moses was taken and hidden, and no one knows exactly where he was buried. Now, if you go on this trip into the Middle East and Mount Nebo, Moses was given an opportunity to view the Promised Land from Mount Nebo. They say on a clear day, of course, the day we were there, it surely wasn't clear, and with so much smog and so on that you could see all the way to Jerusalem. But it's a high mountain, and you can see out through there. Of course, we saw smog and dust and all kinds of stuff. Anyhow, the angel said, Michael, the Lord rebuke you.

Those were their own deceivings while they feast with you. So God says, what does God say in response to this? You look at Hebrews 13 back a few pages. And of course, Paul is writing more specifically to the church. While you're turning to Hebrews 13.7, I'm going to read to you 1 Timothy 2, a couple of verses there with regard to prayer. And as I said, I'm going to read 1 Timothy 2, verse 1. In short, therefore, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercession, and giving of things be made for all men. He didn't exclude any. For kings, for all those that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. But at the same time, God has never enjoined us, instructed us, exhorted us, whatever other word you want to use, to accept evil and to call evil good. In fact, we'll read that verse later. But look at this. Hebrews 13. In Hebrews 13.7, Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the outcome, the result, the telos of their conversation. And then, verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over you, but you never obey that which goes against the word of God. Acts 5.29 says, We ought to obey God and not man. And submit yourselves, for they watch for your lives, as they must give account. Like we read from Ezekiel 2, that go preach the word Ezekiel. Of course, Ezekiel 33 is even more specific about being a watchman.

Obey them that have the rule over you, submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. So the ministry is to stand before you and to try to help you. As far as the ministry is concerned, to a large degree, their reward is going to depend on how well you do. So it would be foolish for a minister not to do what God has called them to do in trying to prepare a people for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Another thing that is going to be happening as this age winds down is there's going to be great deception. Great deception is now being perpetrated on the people, and it will get worse. And it will be done in the name, to a large degree, of human rights.

Love everybody. Love all behaviors.

In Matthew 24, verse 24, I gave a sermon sometime back with regard to the great deception that is going to be upon the world and upon the peoples of the world.

This is Matthew 24, 24. For there shall arise false Christ and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. So great deception is coming. Paul writes to Timothy and says, And evildoers and seducers will wax worse and worse.

God exhorts us to love the truth. So what is a great anecdote for deception? It is the truth. It is loving the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2. So here is one performing great signs, wonders, and miracles. And a lot of people can be deceived by wonders, signs, and miracles because it is, quote, supernatural, above the physical, cannot be explained just in physical terms. And a lot of people will be deceived.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 9, Even him whose coming is after the working of the devil, Satan, with all powers and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

The Apostle John writes, John 17, 17, Sanctify them through your word. Your word is truth.

Jesus says, They shall know the truth. Well, he says in verse 31, this is John 8, 31, If they follow, if my disciples follow, in my ways and obey me, I'm paraphrasing. Then, verse 32, John 8, 32, You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. And for this cause, what cause? That they did not love the truth. God shall send them grand delusion. Now, that should sober us down to our toenails. God shall send them strong delusion. That they should believe THE lie. There's no indefinite article in Greek, and you read any commentary you want to, it'll tell you it's THE lie. What is THE lie? Well, that this one who's sitting in the temple proclaiming that he is God. See, everyone is going to be deceived by that, except those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Another thing they'll do is try to whitewash a rotten fence. Try to whitewash a rotten fence. You look at Ezekiel 13. Ezekiel 13. So this past week, they say, well, the economy is doing a lot better. And so we're going to raise the interest rate, the prime rate, by a fourth of one percent. Well, you would have thought that the whole world had suffered a great earthquake. The stock market the past two days has fallen over 600 points. And it did shake up the financial world. The glut of petroleum on the world market, where oil is now trading below $35 a barrel. And thousands have been laid off or fired in a petroleum industry. And yet at the same time, they boast of, well, the unemployment rate is five percent. It's the lowest it's been in years. But yet there are 93 million Americans not even in the job market. Almost one third of the nation's population is not even in the job market. And so the pundits try to cover up and try to make things appear different from what they really are. In Ezekiel 13, verse 3, Thus says the Lord, woe unto the foolish prophets that follow after their own spirit, have seen nothing. O Israel, your prophets are like the foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord.

That is the day that is coming. In verse 11, Say unto them which dob it with untempered mortar, that is, the wall, and it's been dob, verse 10, with untempered mortar, that it shall fall. There shall be an overflowing shower, and you, O great hailstone, shall fall.

And a stormy wind shall rend it. Lo, when the wall is fallen, shall it not be set unto you? Where is the dobbing? Wherewith ye have dobbed it? Therefore, thus says the Lord God, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury, and there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury to consume it. And I will break down the wall, that ye have dob with untempered mortar, and bring it down to the ground, so that the foundation thereof shall be discovered, and it shall fall, and ye shall be consumed in the midst thereof, and ye shall know that I am the Eternal. Oh yes, whitewash everything, deceive the people, make it look like everything is good. You know, I've wondered from time to time about this verse. It says that it shall come as a thief in the night, and the warning that you need to be prepared all the time, because it seems like the world will just continue to go their merry way, as if all things continue as from the beginning. The leaders will not discern between good and evil. And of course, we see that now with the various rulings of the Supreme Court, where the President of the United States, Ballyhoo's, Advances, Glorifies, other adjectives you want to use, the LGBT agenda, where one of the candidates, in doubtless, unless maybe she commits murder or something like that, will be the Democratic nominee, chosen an ad that we talked about last week of two lesbians kissing, that she will be the champion of the rights of all people. Look at Ezekiel 22. In Ezekiel 22, the leaders will not discern between good and evil. In Ezekiel 22, 22. Let's start in Ezekiel 23.

So what does God say in the face of this? Look at Isaiah 59. In Isaiah 59.

Well, I think 58 would be more apropos. Isaiah 58. Cry aloud, spare not. Lift up your voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgressions in the house of Jacob their sins. See, one of the things that I think we need to wake up to is that these are not normal times. There never been time like the times that we're living in. Moral issues such as homosexuality, abortion, pornography, illicit sex have been made into political issues instead of moral issues.

They become a matter of, quote, political rights. And God says, woe unto those who call evil good and good evil. And in the face of this, are we going to fall prey to this? In contrast to Isaiah 58.1, look at Isaiah 30.

Isaiah 30 beginning in verse 8. And Isaiah 30 in verse 8.

Speak unto us, smooth things, prophesy, defeat the deceits. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, because you despise this word, and trust in oppression and perverseness, and stay there upon. Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach, ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking comes suddenly at an instant. See, there are people, they don't want to hear about the news items. The news items, really what we put forth, not so much news items. You hear the news all the time. The shootings, the killings, but what broad prophetic trends, what's out there. And some don't want to hear about that. They want to bury their heads in the sand. By the way, ostriches don't do that, but anyhow, people do. So in the face of that, God says that we are to tell it the way it is, to cry aloud, to spare not, to lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their sins. We don't want our conscience to become seared. And one of the things that will happen, that the conscience of some will become seared. So these are some of the behaviors, and there are many others, that will be extant at the end of this age. In view of all the things and more, what does God expect each one of us to do? He expects us to be beacons of hope, to be the light of the world.

He expects us to set an example. God expects us to turn to Him with our whole heart, with our prayers. And prayers do make a difference. God expects us to sigh and cry for the abominations that are squeezing the life out of our people.

So we have been enlisted in the Battle of the Ages. We've been drafted into God's great spiritual army. We are involved in spiritual warfare. Wake up to the fact that we're at war. Some, even in this nation, have woken up to the fact that we are at war physically.

And World War III has already begun. We are living at the end of this age. And we will be thrust on the front lines, brought before kings, governors, and so on. It says, think not what you shall say, because a word will be given to you. We've been called to stand in the gap, to exercise conviction, commitment, and courage. No, we're not running for office or even voting. Some may vote. But we are ambassadors of the system that will restore the government of God on the earth. So now is the time to capture the vision, to be prepared, to be excited, to be encouraged, to be determined. Let's close with this scripture, Romans 13 and verse 11. Romans 13 and verse 11. Romans 13 and verse 11. And that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the whole armor of light. Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantedness, not in strife and in being, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the loss thereof.