I woke up one day last week with the outline of a sermon. What does God want from us in 2015? I wasn’t scheduled to preach – nor did I intend to do another End Times prophetic talk. However, it is a word I believe I am to share as widely as I can. So I offer this today to my readers. For the first time, I’m publishing this on the same day that I preach it.
THE CALL
The Prophet Joel lived in a time very similar to our own. He was from Judah, the southern kingdom that established itself around Jerusalem once the Israelite kingdom split after the death of Solomon. It was likely the 800s BC and God’s people were in a state of rebellion. They were turning from the God that had brought them out of Egypt, given them the Promised Land and established them as a nation. Over the course of time there were warnings and invasions. The Assyrians took down the Northern Kingdom whose remnant in Jesus day would be called Samaria. Now God had given Joel a warning for Judah – not just for that day – but applying too to the final coming of the Lord – the ultimate Day of the Lord. The Prophet gave his warning to land – and an age not very unlike our own. We would do well to note the parallels. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, And sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; For the day of the Lord is coming, For it is at hand.” (Joel 2:1)
We live in a world of chaos…..but that is not the point of this piece. We live on the edge of prophetic fulfillment. But even that is not the point. It is all just the setting. We live in a nation in peril….a world in peril…..on the edge of judgment for our national sins; for a world that is abandoning God and setting up gods of its own making. We sit on the brink of the return of Christ. We are the first generation in history to have that honor of that possibility / likelihood in our lifetimes. Israel has been in the land; the very land promised by God – for nearly the lifetime of a generation. That is the fulfillment of many prophecies given in the Old Testament. It is not an insignificant thing. So before getting to the point of this message – which by the way is NOT ‘Hey, we’re living on the edge of the Times of the End’: Let’s review where we are.
- THE ECONOMY – I wrote last week about the great danger that our economy is in. One can find on the internet many writings of Christians who claim to have had dreams and visions of a complete collapse of the American economy; of the entire worldwide financial order. I cannot evaluate their claims. But I do know that many of the futurists and economists and big finance guys who predicted the giant downturn of 2008 – a couple of years in advance – are seeing the same thing. This includes Gerald Celente and the European think tank, LEAP 2020 who call what we’re facing a “global systemic crisis” that will result in “the complete collapse of the Western world we have known since 1945.” If you recall, it was the risky world of derivatives and the collapse of that market that drove the Crash of 2008. Well we’re in much worse shape now, with over $700 trillion in derivatives extant on the world market. The major banks are horribly exposed, much worse than it was 7 years ago. That’s not all. There is a war on the dollar going on, with Russia and China leading the way, moving toward gold, moving toward the Chinese yuan. The goal is to collapse the power of the dollar without destroying the value of their own holdings. And the US is playing the game in return. American sanctions and the falling oil prices are devastating the Russian economy among others. The Saudis, a US ally is working to keep down the price of oil because it will hurt their enemies. So we see the onset of cyber attacks against the economy, against the US government, against SONY. All of this points to a very dangerous time for the global and American economy in particular.
And then there is the phenomenon of the Shemitah. We know that the last 2 great collapses in American financial history happened on the Day of the Shemitah; the final day of the Hebrew Shemitah year, when according to God’s Word, all debts were to be cancelled. The giant market collapse that followed the 9/11 terror attack and the record setting Wall Street crash of 2008 occurred on that very day of the Hebrew calendar. We have entered another Shemitah year and it is to end in September of 2015. Messianic Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, who discovered the amazing correlation between the Shemitah and US financial history, cautions us that this next Shemitah may NOT mean that another warning or round of judgment is coming…….but it could.
- RUMORS OF WARS – We live in a time when the world is quickly ramping up for confrontation. Russia and China are modernizing their militaries, introducing new weapons, expanding their nuclear arsenals even while we shrink ours. There are ongoing threats of EMPs from Iran and Russia, which could knock out our power grid and over the course of a year or so – result in the breakdown of society and the deaths of hundreds of millions of Americans. The North Koreans have launched their cyber attacks and continue to threaten war on a massive scale. It brings to mind the Illuminati warning found in the book, The Armageddon Script, that warned of a nuclear confrontation with the North Koreans that would “threaten the very survival of mankind,” just before the engineered coming of the New Age Christ.
- BREAKDOWN OF ORDER – Our borders are open to illegals and terrorists. Our Constitution is in shambles. We have a President who confers with CAIR, unindicted co-conspirators in the 9/11 attacks. We have a President who calls for God’s blessing on the work of abortionist organizations – a President who embraces gay marriage and the homosexual agenda. We have judges who have forced the legalization of Gay Marriage on states where the voters decided it didn’t want it. But we have reached a tipping point in the nation, when a majority now favor the aberration of homosexual unions. We are seeing a race war being foisted upon the American public. Police are being ambushed and murdered in not just New York, but cities across this nation. Post-Christmas flash mobs have descended on malls in Memphis and Pittsburgh and Nashville and Chicago – attack shoppers and causing havoc. The madness is being fed and watered by men who wear the collar and publicly name Christ. We are losing the soul of our nation; a nation once dedicated to God.
- THE ISRAEL FACTOR – The prophesied coalitions are forming against Israel. It is not just Iran that is making the noise this time. Russia is supplying arms and discussing the invasion of Israel. Turkey, a NATO ally, is approving the words of Hamas leader Khalid Meshaal as he invites them to participate in the soon-to-be conquering of Jerusalem. Thus the coalition of Psalm 83 and the allies of Ezekiel 38 are forming up. In this same line, the Eurasian Economic Union opened for business on January 1st. And thus one more kingdom of the proposed division of the World into Ten Kingdoms on the way to a Global Government is established. Through all of this, the Obama administration is softening its support of Israel; on the one hand shutting down a UN call for a Palestinian State and on the other hand, pressuring Israel to accept an unworkable and unbiblical formula for peace that would divide the land, surrender Jerusalem – and all with an enemy that publicly calls for is destruction.
Through all of this, the Church has lost its way. For the most part it is blind to the times, often embracing the new cultural values and the new morality. An Episcopal Church in the heartland is setting aside a day to celebrate Planned Parenthood; the chief partner in the deaths of over 50 million babies since Roe v Wade. And as individuals we are caught up in pleasure and self-fulfillment. It is the Days of Noah.
Our Response
So what should our response be to all of this? Should we go out and get guns and ammo and water purifiers and seven years’ worth of dried food? Should we march on Washington, start a political movement or take to the streets? Now some of those actions may be good. Some preparation is both wise and prudent. Joseph stored grain for the seven years of famine he knew was coming to Egypt. But that is not the ultimate formula given in God’s Word for how to deal with the situation in which we find ourselves. We are a people both corporately and individually in rebellion. God calls us to a more spiritual solution. Total repentance! Do we want to know what 2015 will bring? This is what is should bring. From the words of the Prophet Joel, Chapter 2, verse 12: “‘Now, therefore,’ says the Lord, ‘Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.’” As we look in desperation for a solution to the engulfing chaos, the descending darkness, we can look to the often quoted passage found in 2Chronicles 7. God does promise to hear and heal……but only when his people “humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways.” Joel picks up the theme in Joel 2:13. “So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God.” “Return!,” God says. This is a call to the Church….a call to God’s People. This is a call to those who were once fully His, to return; to seek Him again. So we are called once again to return. But what does it look like. I can break it down in several points.
- REAL REPENTANCE – God is calling us to much more than just saying we’re sorry…….and promising God we’ll say we’re sorry when we do it again. True repentance is the key. Matthew 4:17 tells us “Repent of your sins and turn to God.” John the Baptist put it this way: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2) In the Greek it’s Metanoeite—to rethink. “Admit a second thought, to correct the errors of the first–an afterthought. Consider your ways, change your minds you have thought amiss think again, and think aright.” If it’s real there will be action involved. It will mean removing opportunities to sin; avoiding those friends or that situation. Becoming accountable. If it’s real it will take daily application. We are to rethink – to take control of our thoughts as part of the sanctification process. Paul put it this way: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2) And if it’s real it will move us to our second point. The change of mind will produce a change in the way we live. It must lead to……
- TOTAL TRANSFORMATION – We can look to Zacchaeus to see the model. He was a crooked man, a tax collector. But in his day of repentance he restored what he stole four-fold and gave half of his goods to the poor. Matthew, another tax collector left his old way of life and became a member of the inner circle and following Jesus to the point of death, being slaughtered in Ethiopia as he spread the Good News. Then there is Paul, a hunter of Christians, confronted and transformed on the road to Damascus. Radical transformations all! Have we slipped away from where we once were? We are being called back to where we were ……or even to a higher level. Total transformation takes total commitment. It takes a laying down of ourselves and our concerns on an altar dedicated to the purposes of God. We must truly intend our prayers when we pray: ‘Whatever it takes.’ We must be like Jesus in the Garden: “Not My will, but Yours, be done.” (Luke 22:42) This calls for …..
- FULLNESS OF FAITH – In the hand and the will of God. We must be committed to a daily walk. Sometimes our circumstances seem to overwhelm us. Sometimes the fire is so hot we think we cannot make it another minute. Like never before, my family and I have been through the fire this last year. The coals are still hot; the fight not quite over. And I have had to learn the lesson to of Total Trust over and over again. We have to believe the promise of Romans 8:28. “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” We have to take into our very being the words of Paul in his letter to the Philippians. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) What a promise: “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” A true Fullness of Faith will take us through the fear. For what do we really have to fear? Jesus Himself promised us: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) And as we understand that no matter what we may be going through we can say: ‘God’s got this’ – we will come to express ….
- THOROUGH THANKSGIVING – That is the entrance point into God’s presence. Psalm 100 begins: “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.” (Verses 1&2) It continues in verse 4 and gives the reason in verse 5. “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.” Psalm 136 begins this way: “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” Over and over again it drives home that point; “His mercy endures forever.” And we can all testify to that point. If we have given ourselves to Him, He has paid for our sins on the Cross, we are washed in the Blood of the Lamb, we have the deposit of the Holy Spirit living inside us, we are being transformed and sanctified, we are declared to be children of God, we are become kings and priests and will rule and reign with Him. Tell me that isn’t something to be thankful for. And as thanksgiving becomes our way of life we become motivated to…..
- WALK IN HIS WILL – We are called not just to live passively as ‘believing’ Christians. Faith is not passive, but active. As James writes: “I will show you my faith by my works.” (James 2:18) Faith is a call to action. We are called to exercise more compassion. To give more. To love better. To listen to the leadings of the Spirit and – as Jesus said: “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” That’s how we walk in His will. And as we repent and our faith takes hold we will take on the mind of Christ which demands of us maybe the hardest thing….
- RADICAL FORGIVENESS – Corrie Ten Boom, the Dutch woman who spent time in – and lost much of her family in the Nazi Concentration Camps for hiding Jews was once faced with the choice of forgiving one of her cruelest jailers after the war. And in Christ’s love she was able to do so. Mark 11:25-26 reads like this: “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” True communion with God requires that as forgiven beings we will adopt the ethic of forgiveness and extend mercy in our own lives. Jesus gave the perfect example as He hung on the Cross, pleading for any who had a role in His death. “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34) All of this taken together should lead us to….
- A COMMITMENT TO PRAYER – This needs to be a daily pleading; for ourselves, our families, for strength and courage to live out our faith, to maintain our walk, for personal and family repentance, for national repentance, for our leaders loved or despised, for the awakening of the Church……..and all of this; Not by formula….but driven and informed by the Spirit of God.
It is all driven by the commitment to repent; to fall in humility at the foot of the altar. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven…. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:3, 6) That’s the look of repentance. That is the people that we need to be.
Yes, we are possibly facing on the near horizon an unprecedented crisis in the life of this nation. The global scene is even more chaotic. We are a nation adrift. A Church that has lost its way. And we, the individuals in the Church are the only solution to the problem. “When the people that are called by My name….” In similar times, the Prophet Joel gave the call to Israel. It echoes down to us today. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, And the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the Lord, Weep between the porch and the altar; Let them say, ‘Spare Your people, O Lord, And do not give Your heritage to reproach, That the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’” (Joel 2:15-17)
We do that….and here is God’s promise: “Then the Lord will be zealous for His land, And pity His people.” 2Chronicles 7 puts it this way: “then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2Chronicles 7:14)
Leave a Reply