Revival Preaching, Revival Sermons, Revival Journals, Cross of Christ, the Cross, Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, Holy Ghost, Spiritual Gifts

By Chris McDonald

TEXT: Judges 10:7 - And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

If an individual has a false concept of God, who Is both love, yet also Righteous, that individual will more than likely not have a true concept of Biblical salvation and deliverance. There must be a balanced view of God's character, nature and holiness if we are to lead people to a proper relationship with Him through the Lord Jesus Christ, who Is truly the ONLY way we know God and can approach God – both here by faith on the earth and one day in eternity.

I know that there are some who paint God as strictly an angry tyrant all the time, wanting to judge at the least little thing, almost living in heaven holding out a big stick to strike the earth as He whims and desires. Churches with this view tend to be extremely legalistic and preach that the responsibility of righteousness is on the individual instead of dependence on the grace that God gives those who are in Christ to fulfill His righteous laws and demands. We are not saved by the Law nor are we kept by the law; we are saved by GRACE through FAITH in Christ Jesus, in whom there is NO condemnation!

John 1:17 - For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Romans 8:1-3 -There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. [2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. [3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

We're not saved because we sing in the choir, our hair is cut above our ears, or because we "do" or "don't" do this or don’t do that; we're saved because we have placed our faith and trust in the Finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and what He accomplished for us at the Cross. In placing our faith in the Cross we humble ourselves, confess our sins and REPENT of our sins in coming to Christ, who in turn places His Spirit in us that we may be conformed into HIS image and walk free from the power and penalty of sin. That is the gospel!

On the flip side, another perception that is just as wrong of God is that He is all love and never gets angry at sin or judges nations because of their rebellion. His love does not allow Him to condone sin, nor does it wince when His covenant people wind up in idolatry, sin and rebellion. Our text today speaks of a time in Israel's history known as the time of the judges when such a cycle of idolatry and rebellion played out in the nation constantly. Israel's experiences in scripture are but warnings to us today, both nationally and in the modern church, as to what happens when we forsake God and enter into a covenant with demons and false gods.

The modern gospel that a growing number of preachers continue to embrace and preach promotes a false perception of God that ultimately produces a false salvation, which millions embrace yet unless they find the true path to God will wind up lost and separated eternally from God. God IS LOVE; that Love was proclaimed through Christ and what He did at the Cross 2,000 years ago for those who recognize their sin as well as recognizing that they have broken God's law. While we can't be redeemed by law, the law does POINT us to CHRIST, in that we see that we are sinful, wicked and in danger of judgment if we don't repent and come to Christ.

Galatians 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. [24] Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. [25] But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.

The Lord’s Disposition To Israel; Is His The Same To Us Today?

Judges 10:7 - And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

I want to take you back to the time of the judges in Israel’s history to gain an understanding of this text and see how Israel found herself in such an oppressed state. It is worth noting that in times past Israel would call on God and thus God would raise up military leaders whom God raised up to deliver His people from their enemies. After Joshua, the nation would experience a 300-year cycle of apostasy, rebellion, repentance, deliverance by 12 different leaders over time, only to fall back into apostasy. In each instance after a period of faithfulness and security, the people once again forgot God, renewing the cycle of unfaithfulness all over again. This theme of sin-punishment-repentance-deliverance runs seven times throughout the book of Judges, it is introduced by the refrain, "The children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord".

Judges 4:1 - And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord….

As we find Israel in our text, the anger of the Lord had waxed hot again against her. This phrase “and the anger of the Lord waxed hot,” is found in other passages, but only one other time in the book of Judges:

Judges 2:14 - And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.

Judges 10:7 - And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.

This divine displeasure was manifested in delivering them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites. The former dwelt on the western side of Jordan; the latter, on the eastern: and it appears that they joined their forces on this occasion to distress and ruin the Israelites, though the Ammonites were the most active. Neighbor, when a nation loses its way with God, distress and ruin are always the result. The Lord’s disposition to Israel was one of anger; it was not just anger but an anger that literally “was hot,” against the chosen people. This phrase “was hot,” or “waxed hot,” actually occurs 10 other times in Scripture, four in the book of Judges:

· Judges 2:14

· Judges 6:39

· Judges 3:8

· Judges 10:7 (OUR TEXT)

The term or phrase is used also in Exodus 22:24, 32:10-11, 22; Deut. 9:19; Psalm 6:1 and 38:1. It comes from the Hebrew word, “charah," which means to “be hot or furious; to burn; be incensed.” Thus, God is spoken of as becoming hot in anger ten times in Scripture. Ten is the number of divine government which speaks of God’s disposition over nations and how they rule the affairs of men.

As I write this journal my heart is extremely troubled over the events of the past week in our nation. On Tuesday the 5th of February nearly 60 people lost their lives in a violent rampage of tornadoes in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Missouri. Some of the storms topped out with winds close to 170 mph, especially around the Jackson, Tn. in the western part of the state. While no life was lost in Jackson, other significant storms did take lives near Memphis, Tn., Atkins, Arkansas and Hopkinsville, Ky. Two days after the violent storms in the south, another violent rampage took place in the natural near St. Louis, Mo., where a gunman burst into a local city council meeting, shot the Mayor along with six other police officers before turning the gun on himself. One day later a woman entered into a Louisiana technical school, shot two female students to death, then shot herself. On Monday the 12^th, we saw a shooting at a Memphis, Tn. High school, the second there in as many weeks.

All of these events came on the heels of the Super Tuesday primaries where our nation with a loud voice it seemed spoke through their votes as to what direction they sought the country to take. It literally seemed Tuesday night that as we were speaking to God by our votes, God was speaking to us through the power of the whirlwind.

In our blog following these events we asked that very question of whether God may have been speaking to our nation through the storms of Tuesday. Our point was not to draw any political meaning into the storms but to merely declare that no matter who is in power in the White House nor what direction this nation takes in November, there will be NO power to protect us from the power of the an Almighty God if we continue to find ourselves in rebellion against Him as Israel did of old.

While men were counting delegates, eternity called for 60 souls. It seemed at times this week the heavenlies were literally being shaken and stirred to the point that the events in the physical world were but a picture of the spiritual warfare taking place over our nation in the heavenlies. We had some who wrote us that had a hard time believing this; a few used cursed words to express their disagreement and displeasure over what we wrote.

The reason that most have a hard time believing God addresses nations through such events as we witnessed this week is because the church world has conditioned society to accept a false perception of God by proclaiming a message that gives assurance of salvation to millions yet because of its false precepts, makes millions literal strangers to the true demands of salvation and the righteous and Holy character of God. I believe most who hear the American gospel today are like the blind sinner who is unwittingly heading for a thousand foot-cliff. This modern form of evangelism draws alongside him and says, “Blind man, I am going to give you a wonderful gift that will give you great peace.”

We in the church then hand the blind man a CD player and adjust its earphones over his ear. The sightless man hears “Amazing Grace” being sung by a choir of ten thousand voices. His blind eyes widen with delight. He smiles and says, “What you said is true. This is truly wonderful Thank you very much.” He shakes the man’s hand, turns up the volume on his newfound gift, and continues tapping his way toward the thousand-foot cliff.

The problem is this. Because modern evangelism has failed to awaken the blind sinner to his true plight and given him a false peace, he is not only still heading toward a horrible death, but he is deaf toward any further verbal warning. This is not by accident, but by demonic design that millions have been given so many versions of true salvation their ears are actually deaf to the true message of salvation that will keep them from eternal hell!

The modern church holds to a theology that leaves out the fact the Law of God has declared men as sinners and lawbreakers, as well as rejecting the operation of the Holy Spirit. As a result, there is no conviction upon the Word of God, what precious little of it is still preached behind pulpits today. As Jeremiah declared in 8:11, the prophets and priests of Israel healed the daughter of the people “slightly,” by saying, “peace, peace,” when there was no peace! False peace to the sinner means false conversions which in turn produces professing Christians who are not born again and thus lost and without God. These same people believe in sincerity that when they die they will go to heaven, when in fact, if they die in this state of embracing a false salvation, they will in fact go to hell.

Jeremiah 8:11
For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

In addition to promoting a gospel that promises false peace without repentance, the modern gospel refuses to address the fact our nation has lost God’s blessings and God’s anger is kindled greatly against America, though laced with mercy. This is in part the same disposition and anger He portrayed to Israel of old, whose experiences are a warning to us today, that God is the same and He changes not!

Most refuse to deal with the obvious before our eyes. The American Cancer society estimated that in just one year there were 1,382,400 new cancer cases. Add to that an onslaught of killer bees, massive hurricanes, devastating floods, earthquakes, droughts and as we witnessed last week ravaging and deadly tornadoes that can destroy property and end lives in a moment’s notice. After years of evangelization by modern preachers, including many household names who regularly parade their wares over Christian television, a concept of God as a benevolent figure ONLY has engulfed the thinking of most who are offended when faced with the concept that God just may be angry at our nation because of its sin and rebellion and despite decades of merciful warnings to us, has backed off and is allowing the enemy to run rampant across our land.

Therefore, when terrible tragedies of “natural disasters” and deadly diseases come our way, those are considered the mere rumblings of Mother Nature, El Nino, la Nina, global warming, global cooling and a myriad of other things - ANYTHING BUT the dealings of a Holy God with a sinful nation.

A certain black preacher I will leave nameless that has one of the biggest national ministries in America was on Fox News a week after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and asked point blank, “do you think God is dealing with us a nation through these natural disasters?” His response was typical of the modern crop of preachers with huge followings when he said, “the God I serve didn’t have anything to do with this.” While I will be the first to proclaim that God does not steal, kill or destroy human life - the enemy does that - God at the very least allowed these events to happen and even greater still WAS trying to get the attention of the nation through these tragedies. There were some preachers who refused to acknowledge God was speaking to our nation in the events of 9-11-2001. God is speaking whether we’re listening or not!

From hence a position comes a tragic dilemma in which the Church finds herself: how do we go from preaching “God loves you” no matter how you’re living or how deep in rebellion and sin you are to “God is angry at the wicked every day” and a God whose love cannot be true love unless He deals with sin!

This dilemma to be frank is too great a leap for most to take; in fact most don’t take it and opt out for a message void of any demands for repentance because if they did take the leap, they would not have stadiums full of people listening to their message and millions coming into the coffers! Instead, they’d be hard pressed to fill the front row!

Consequently, few preachers have the courage to say that America is under any form of God’s judgment, and those who do so are considered a little fanatical. Again, this is simply because just over one hundred years ago, modern evangelism forsook the scriptural preaching of the Gospel which includes the revelation of God’s holy law, without which the world cannot conceive that God would be angry at humanity. Let me tell you this.

God is not a tyrant who sits in heaven wanting an excuse to get mad. He wants to always deal with His creation in mercy FIRST, LOVE always and grace whenever possible. Even in His wrath, He always tempers such with MERCY and Grace. The act of destroying Sodom and Gomorrah was an act of mercy on the rest of the Earth. Had God left Sodom and Gomorrah alone, the sin that infested those two cities would have spread and destroyed all of humanity like a cancer. EVERYTHING God does, even in judgment, is rooted in HIS LOVE and GRACE for this fallen sin cursed Earth.

When God’s anger waxes HOT, as stated in our text, it should tell us that there is a deep rooted reason for such and not something that takes place on a regular basis. In Israel’s case, she had reached this state that brought this type anger on not over night, but through a series of rebellions, periods of apostasy and idol worship. God warned Israel over and over and over that if she persisted in this pattern this would cause His anger to kindle against her; yet the nation refused to listen. I cannot help but think that this blessed nation of America of which I am proud to be a citizen of, sits on the same precipice today, yet so very few want to address it because it flies in the face of this cotton candy, soda pop psychology laced gospel of the modern era.

I am reminded of a story Ray Comfort told of a recent time he was preaching on the street of an American city when a sincere young lady once heckled him as he expounded the Ten Commandments to a crowd at a local university. She screamed at the top of her lungs and said “God loves you, don’t listen to this man!” The man stopped speaking and asked her if she cared about the salvation of those to whom the man was speaking. She said of course that she did, so the missionary gently asked her to give her testimony. After she had spoken for a few moments, the missionary friend asked her where her hearers would go if they died without faith in Christ and the Cross. She hesitantly said, “Hell,” then she began to weep and added a statement that underscores the seriousness of how the church has sunk into this level of apostasy, “But God is nice!”

Neighbor, hear this writer as he relates what Ray Comfort responded to this young lady; it’s a statement this writer deeply says “amen” to!

God is many things, holy, perfect, righteous, loving, and good - but there is no biblical foundation for saying that He is “nice.” God’s love and mercy are certainly elements of His kindness, but that kindness is extended to the repentant, believing and those seeking to walk in holiness and obedience before Him! There are many like this young lady behind pulpits today who are nice, charming, soothing and oozing with syrup to choke a mule telling sinners the Creator is “nice.” This just leaves the impression that God is “pleasant, sweet, delicate and agreeable” – even with those in rebellion. If this was the image of God to this young lady no wonder she was offended at the biblical revelation of His nature when Mr. Comfort shared the gospel years ago.

When preachers preach about future punishment most respond and say “God loves you, ask Jesus into your heart right now!” When most are asked where people go when they die without Jesus Christ, one would be shocked at how few grasp they will not go to heaven. The word “hell” has become almost a four-letter word in the church because of the severity of its sound and the hard truth of its reality. Comedians mock its existence; sinners use it as a curse word in their anger; yet preachers of the gospel are scared to use it from behind pulpits to warn their listeners of the consequences of eternity without God.

The Reason’s for God’s Anger Waxing Hot Against Israel

Judges 10:6
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him

Why was God’s disposition such to Israel? I know that when we hear that God is “angry” it messes up this modern view of God many in the church have produced in the hearts in millions. Let’s look at a bit closer at the reason God was as angry as He got and why it reveals the reasons we should tremble in holy fear for our nation of America today.

Number one, Israel worshipped many gods other than the TRUE and LIVING GOD. Not did they worship and embrace their old demons Baal and Ashtoreth, which the Canaanites had worshipped, but, as if they would proclaim their folly to all their neighbors, they served the gods of Syria, Zidon, Moab, Ammon, and the Philistines. It looks as if the chief trade of Israel had been to import deities from all countries and by doing so rendered them despicable, for no nation that had any sense of honor changed their gods. Israel changed her worship of the true God for that of idols. Let that sink in friend.

The source of this idol worship was money, which should come as no surprise to any of us who see what is taking place in our nation today, especially the modern church. Idol worship is big business and it brings in money to those who embrace such.

According to the great commentator, Matthew Henry, much of the wealth of Israel was carried out, in offerings to the temples of the false deities they worshipped in several of the countries from whence they came; thus, the temples of Israel were expected to pledge their allegiance to these false temples and ally themselves with their neighbor’s false gods for monetary gain. The priests and devotees of those sorry deities would follow their gods, no doubt, in crowds into the land of Israel, and, if they could not live in their own country, would come back to Israel and bring their false gods with them, take root there, and thus strangers would eventually devour Israel’s strength. America’s immigration issues are a precursor of things to come that unless we repent, strangers are going to, if they have not already begun, devour our strength!

Some commentators believed Israel also worshipped these gods to compliment her neighbors as a sign of gratitude. America does the same today with its increasing allegiance to Islam and the false god of Allah. Islam has just about taken over Europe and America is next if our leadership in both Washington and the modern evangelical church community don’t wake up. When six mosques are going up weekly for every one church, friend that should be a warning to us that America is turning heathen and embracing a religion that will in time both control and destroy us in spite of our platitudes of gratitude to it, as what has been spoken by our President recently. It was a shame and disgrace to see President Bush, whom I like, but disagree vehemently on this issue with him about Islam being a “peaceful” relgion, when he visited Saudi Arabia in January, holding the sword of Islam up with the Saudi prince. That sword when lifted up means “Islam will rule the world,” and is the heart felt feeling of ALL Islamic nations and dictators. When our American President embraces this religion and promotes it as just another way to God, we are opening the door for disaster and destruction!

Yet, as Israel found out the hard way so will America. The same nations whereby they turned to and embraced their wickedness and idolatry, thus making alliances and friends with, became their enemies AND OPPRESSORS through the righteous declarations of God! America needs to heed this warning. If we want to embrace the false god of Islam and declare Allah as god, then we will suffer the consequences of Allah’s religion – the bloody sword of Islam which seeks the total destruction of Jews and Christians world wide. We have not gotten it in six and a half years that the events of 9-11-2001 was NOT the work of a few extremists, but the workings of the basic foundations of this very religion we try to appease. What happened on 9-11 is what Islam teaches that is RIGHT in the sight of Allah and Mohammed, Islam’s so-called prophet.

A God among Many Gods

Neighbor, hear this writer. Man uses the term “God” today like some generic brand of bread or grocery item. When seeking to define whether one believes in God, most state they “believe in God,” yet not knowing just who God really is! Where the rubber hits the road is through the revelation of Whom God revealed Himself to man through – His ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, the Lord Jesus Christ.

John 3:16 -For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

When one says, “I believe in JESUS,” then the discussion changes and the temperature rises quickly! Jesus Christ IS God and God is revealed through Jesus Christ! They are part of a Triune Godhead – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Three distinct personalities; yet there being one unique Trinity.

Yet, the Lord Jesus Christ has become a “god” among many gods that millions worship, including many in the professing, yet apostate church. As stated, Islam is spreading over this land as a cancer without treatment with its false worship of Allah. Other false religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism are gaining hold in our schools and universities where when one mentions the term “god” most believe that means ALL paths and all beliefs go to the God of heaven. Many literally think God of the Bible is the same god of Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism. The Catholics promote a religion based on harlotry, a worship of works and praying to a man who they fell forgives sin. Friend, it’s not the POPE you will standing before on judgment day! In addition, the Catholic Church declares itself as the “true” church and only way one can be a Christian.

LET THIS WRITER BE CLEAR AND STATE THIS WITHOUT FEAR OR FAVOR - ALL PATHS DO NOT LEAD TO GOD and if one comes any other way except through the Blood stained hands of Jesus Christ – that person will be eternally lost and wind up in a devil’s hell forever and forever.

Another powerful impact on American society and thought is the New Age Movement’ whose teaching has brought the worship of other false deities and more importantly the god of “self” into the world, and now into the Church. This new gospel of “self,” that man “evolves” into Godhood through improving his “self” instead of repentance through the Cross. That is what 70% of all preachers are preaching and proclaiming today behind American pulpits.

That is why building up one’s self-esteem is looked on in the modern church as the solution; thus modern psychology is embraced as gospel, instead of embracing what the Word of God says about fallen humanity. The Bible says self is the problem and there is NO other place where man’s “self” can be dealt with except at the Cross! We DIE to our old sin nature at the Cross. Our life ENDS at the Cross, so His life can begin anew in us through the power of the Holy Ghost! Man doesn’t need a revamping of his “self-image,” man needs to repent! Man is a sinner, not one whose self-esteem needs to be adjusted to he can function in life. SIN is why man does not function and his life is out of kilter!! Sin’s power is broken in man, not by man gaining more self-esteem, but by man admitting he is a SINNER and coming to the foot of the Cross for deliverance and salvation!

One of the leading New Agers of our time is television host Oprah Winfrey, whose gospel is being embraced by millions, including many Christians who view her as some religious icon because she talks so uplifting to women and others. Oprah’s actions however PALE in comparison to the New Age teaching that is being promoted and proclaimed by so-called preachers of the gospel! New Age gurus, dressed up in suits, proclaiming messages that push works, self-esteem, self-help, and a myriad of other doctrines laced with humanistic psychology, other than the doctrine of the CROSS!

Neighbor, it’s at the CROSS where we meet the true God of heaven – in the person of Jesus Christ. It’s at the Cross where man sees himself as God sees him – a sinner, lost and undone without hope and mercy; it’s at the Cross where however, God’s judgment on sin has been dealt with through the sacrifice of Christ and if man will but repent, believe the gospel and by faith walk in obedience to God, man will be saved from that same wrath that is upon ALL who refuse to embrace such.

If my 15-year old son starts trying to read the Purpose Driven Life book and puts it down after reading 3 pages, telling me “dad, something is very wrong with this book,” why can’t preachers and ministry leaders see it as such? If my 21-year old step-daughter, who is not a theologian by any stretch of the imagination, can watch Joel Osteen’s program on Sunday morning then turn the channel in disgust saying to me, “what he is preaching isn’t right – it’s not telling people the right way to be saved,” why do preachers and ministry leaders ooh and awe over him like he’s some Guru, and not see his error? Joel Osteen has a serious problem in being able to discern what being a true believer is. When asked in December by Fox News Sunday whether he thought Mormons were Christians he said “of course they are.” They are?

You mean a Mormon who believes Christ is but of thousands of other gods and that Joseph Smith has the same divine capacity as God’s son is the same as a Christian? Umm, that’s interesting Joel. And I’m sure that the Mormons who embrace such error and damnable doctrines will die and just be ushered into heaven without question because they have their faith in thousands of other gods and believe man will evolve into Godhood himself and thus does not need redemption by the blood of Jesus; Don’t count on it! Don’t count on it. That is a shame that a preacher of the gospel with such a following cannot clearly tell people the truth! But it’s yet another sign we’re living the last of the last days and the apostasy foretold by apostles is HERE and growing darker by the moment.

These are not personal attacks on these individuals. We DO however have a right to question their MESSAGE! Because it is the MESSAGE that people hear and embrace either for eternal salvation or for eternal damnation. This is not some isolated incident either. The lines are being blurred so much today that people who call themselves Christians yet question whether Christ is even God. Some question whether there is a hell; some question whether men really need to repent and believe the gospel to be saved. It’s a sad indictment of the state of any ministry when the Purpose Driven Life is read word for word to people in lieu of the teaching and preaching of the Word of God. Yet, SCORES of ministries and churches do just that every Sunday and every week! I know what I’m talking about because I witnessed it up close and personal just last year in the city we live. Let this writer say it! If a ministry or theology is not centered on the Cross of Christ, it is a false theology that promotes the worship of a false god and is being produced by false and demon spirits!! Get offended at that if you like; many will. But friend there is no other alternative of salvation outside the path of the Cross of Christ!

Secondly, while worshipping so many false deities, Israel did not so much as admit or recognize the God of Israel to be one of those many deities they worshipped, but literally cast Him off. In other words, it was bad enough that Israel worshipped so many false gods, but in the process of time, the nation simply forsook the True Lord of heaven, and served not him at all.

Judges 10:6
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the Lord, and served not him.

That is why we scream so much through this website about the mixing of religions and trying to promote a false unity. One cannot think to serve both God AND the false gods of humanism, psychology and the theologies of false religions, for in doing so it is always inevitable one will soon come entirely to forsake God, and to serve these false gods only! If God have not all the heart of man, He will soon have none of it. Yet this sickening mixture of the gospel continues to cause many to embrace a false Christ, driven by false spirits, promoting a false gospel.

2 Cor. 11:4- For if he that cometh preaches another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.

Matthew 6:24-25 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

That is what is taking place in greater magnitude and scope in America today. We don’t even hide our idolatry anymore but openly proclaim it to our utter and eternal shame and the destruction of millions who will wind up in hell because of it. When churches tell people that you can be a Christian and a homosexual at the same time, neighbor we have forsaken God! When we tell women they can go out and abort babies and support and vote for candidates who believe the same, we have forsaken God! When churches send the drug addicts and alcoholics among us to rehab centers because we don’t believe in the operation and moving of the Holy Ghost to deliver men, we have forsaken God! When we call that which is God “of Satan,” and that which is of Satan, “of God,” then we have forsaken God!

Israel became oppressed by the same enemies incidentally, whose gods she had embraced. That is a serious warning to the American church and nation as I write this!

As I close this journal, listen to me friend. Had Israel fallen into the hands of the Lord immediately, they would have found His mercies were great; yet because of their unwillingness to admit their state and continued rebellion, God let them fall into the hands of man, whose tender mercies are cruel.
The Bible said “HE,” meaning God, sold them into the hands of the Philistines that lay south-west of Canaan, and of the Ammonites that lay north-east, both at the same time; so that between those two millstones they were miserably crushed, as the original word is (v. 8) for oppressed.

Judges 10:8 - And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead.

Because the church has embraced idols, sin has CRUSHED millions! Because we have refused to preach the Cross, the oppression and bondage of drugs, alcohol, lust, pornography, homosexuality, lesbianism, unbelief, idolatry, deceit, fraud, and the list could go one, grips MILLIONS to where they are literally CRUSHED under sin’s dominion! For those who are not gripped with the sins of the flesh, the oppressive spirits of depression, mental disorders, and suicide grip others. Because of this sin curse upon us, the earth convulses and wreaths back and forth in utter disgust at its condition, thus the violent storms and displays of nature’s wrath and fury that crushes lives as well.

What took place in our state of Tennessee where we reside at the moment on Super Tuesday when 60 people lost their lives by historic tornadoes was not “just an act of Nature,” as some individual wrote to us angrily when we stated these storms were a message being sent by God as we were sending a message of God through how this nation voted on Tuesday! What took place Tuesday was a picture of how futile man can stand against the results of a creation gone astray because of sin. God took no pleasure in the deaths of those lost their lives; some were more than likely saved and ready to go; others were not; THAT friend is the issue, not the storms themselves. Those who were not ready to go I’m sure included those who had sit in churches week after week without hearing the gospel and thought they were right with God; but in a moment’s time, they felt another crush – the crush of eternity without God.

In Israel’s case, God had appointed her oppression, if any of the cities of Israel should revolt to idolatry, then one of the judgments pronounced would be Israel declaring war upon them and cutting them of. Yet, because Israel became idolatrous and forsook God herself, the same judgment pronounced upon her enemies, now fell on her.

Deut. 13:12-16 - If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, [13] Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; [14] Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; [15] Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. [16] And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the Lord thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again.

As I write this journal, America has been in Iraq for nearly five years now. I remember when we went into Iraq in 2003 the clamor in America was how righteous a cause this was because we were fighting against a “wicked” dictator, which actually was true, at least the dictator part. We self-righteously proclaimed that our democracy was a better way of life for the Middle East, again, in terms of people living free may be true. Remember this however; freedom and democracy only work when people are righteous! We saw that illustrated graphically in 2006 when a “free” Palestinian people elected a terror group, Hamas, to rule over its affairs. When people are wicked and can choose the path they want to take, they will also choose the path of wickedness.

America has no room to point fingers at ANY nation at this moment. As we claim we are the world’s example, we slaughter babies, promote homosexuality and reek with so much unbelief in the True God it is not funny anymore. We are literally forcing God out and casting Him off of our culture as Israel did of old and our judgment will be the same unless we turn and repent! Organizations such as the ACLU proclaim they are protecting American society from the separation of church and state in seeking to remove any Godly expression anywhere they can find and do it. What the ACLU does not realize, along with countless millions of others, is that the Bible teaches separation of church and state – it does NOT however teach separation of GOD and state!

We scream and moan and go into hives if someone attacks Islam or says something against a false religion; however, if that same individual slurs Christianity, that individual is applauded and laughed at. As Israel of old, The very nations whose false religions we embrace and do so gleefully will in turn one day become our oppressors! Islam will be a noose that will one day fit around America’s neck simply because we have embraced this false religion in lieu of the true and ONLY GOD in heaven – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob!

As we close, let me give you two quick points that describes Israel’s oppression: One, it was very long. It continued eighteen years during which some of those years were part of the judgeship of Jair, who could not prevail to reform and deliver Israel as he would. In times past when God raised up judges, they would do just that – deliver Israel from her oppressors, but her sin had gotten so bad, even a new leader could not change her course of bondage. Let that sink in friend as we face elections here in America in November 2008. Just because we “change” direction or parties, doesn’t mean America will change.

Secondly, this oppression was very grievous. Israel’s enemies, who themselves were wretched and grossly violent, vexed them and oppressed them. The children of Ammon began with those tribes that lay next them on the other side Jordan, here called the land of the Amorites (v. 8) because the Israelites had so wretchedly degenerated and made themselves so like the heathen, they had become, in a manner, perfect Amorites. We will become like those who oppress us!

By their sin Israel forfeited their title to this land, so that it might justly be looked upon as the land of the Amorites again, from whom they originally had taken it. This invasion came in degrees as they pushed forward, came over Jordan, and invaded Judah, and Benjamin, and Ephraim (v. 9), three of the most famous tribes of Israel.

Judges 10:9 - Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.

Israel, as mighty as a nation she was at the time, was unable to make head against the invader. Now the threatening was fulfilled that they should be slain before their enemies, and should have no power to stand before them, as was warned by Moses in the Law.

Leviticus 26:17 - And I will set my face against you, and ye shall be slain before your enemies: they that hate you shall reign over you; and ye shall flee when none pursueth you.

Leviticus 26:37 - And they shall fall one upon another, as it were before a sword, when none pursueth: and ye shall have no power to stand before your enemies.

Why did all of this happen? Because the anger of the Lord waxed HOT against Israel. Neighbor, if you are in open rebellion and sin today and not living right, you are under this same disposition from the Heavenly Father! He loves you enough today to warn you through the words of this journal to repent, believe the gospel and be saved! Backslider, He’s warning you today to make things right before He has to move in judgment. He wants to move in MERCY, but when mercy ends, the only remedy for apostasy is judgment.

To the nation of America; heed the warnings of what happened to Israel. Israel found herself in a mess and became utterly oppressed and invaded by foreign powers. In our next journal, we’re going to look at how Israel got herself out of this mess, which led to a new Judge and deliverer, Jephatath, being raised up who delivered her from the hands of the Ammonites. This which we will speak of next week is America’s only hope as well!

Neighbor, it’s getting late. We need to examine our hearts and see if there be anything within us that makes the Lord’s anger wax hot over us! We need to examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith, and not reprobate. And the anger of the Lord waxed HOT against Israel. What is His disposition to you today? Please ask yourself that question before it is eternally too late! God Bless.

Hit Counter

Are You 404?

Comments, Questions: cmc4jesus@aol.com