“O nation not desired”

Zephaniah 2:1-2 “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; (2.) Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.”

We had the privilege a few weeks back to study this passage of scripture and it was an eye opening study. The Lord is speaking to His beloved Nation Israel here, the only nation on earth that had God’s love, and God’s grace, but also a nation that dishonored God on every action. It has to make one wonder why God had such a love for Israel and why God blessed them so and why God continues to bless them and even promises to bless them in the Tribulation period. Although we do now know in hindsight that because of their unruliness toward God, and His word that God has stopped using them as a ministry of His word, and has started to use the Gentile churches to minister His word. The Lord told the first church at Jerusalem to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Matthew 28:19 and when they failed to do as Christ Jesus had directed them, then God allowed persecution to drive them out “And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.” Acts 9:1, 4 only once they were forced out, did they do as Christ Jesus had directed them in Matthew 28:19.

It seems we as Americans have learned nothing by the sufferings of the Israelites. We have a nation that God has over and over blessed; we have accomplished more in 200 plus years than the rest of the world combined and we like Israel continue to spit in God’s Holy face. God has given us warning after waning through the example of Israel of what happens to a nation that is blessed of God and then shoves Him aside as though we do not need Him or His blessings. We have reached the conclusion that God is now worthless to us and we know more and better than Him. Only when a national disaster hits us do we seek God’s compassion and help i.e. 911. Well beloved that is not good enough! The Lord called Israel “…O nation not desired...” meaning they were no longer desired of God and no longer a leader in the world. We, the greatest nation on the earth are no longer a desired nation to the Lord. We were blessed (as a nation) to be a protector of Israel and now we are turning our backs on them. Now we are at a point (as a nation) where laws are being written that will mute pastors in the pulpit about moral wrong. Beloved we as churches and members in particular better get on our faces in churches everywhere and pray to God for our nation’s forgiveness. The Lord said “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together…” that is come together and cry to God for mercy, grace, and forgiveness. And this must be done today “Before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff…” that is before the day passes suddenly away and “…before the fierce anger of the LORD come upon you, before the day of the LORD'S anger come upon you.” Beloved we are there; it is time for God’s anger because the last great and blessed nation has failed God just as Israel did. The Tribulation period is at hand, there is no other place for God to take this world. Israel failed God, England failed God and now the United States has failed God. When we read the account of the flood in Genesis chapter 5 we see that God was very angry with man that they had associated themselves with wickedness and wickedness had taken over and He destroyed mankind. Well beloved we are again at that point and the flood of tribulation is on the way. Oh how we as believers can truly thank God that He has not appointed us to wrath as believers in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,”

God Is A Shield To Them That Trust In Him

2 Samuel 22:31 “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.”

This verse of scripture is a very powerful one; we see it quoted word for word by the Psalmist in Psalms 18:30. “As for God, his way is perfect…” the word “perfect” means that God’s words are entire, truth, or without spot, any of these wonderful terms can fit into it’s place because God’s word are all of them. I know we are a people of little faith because we more times than not find ourselves in doubt whether we know it or not. Beloved in this flesh we will never have total faith in God or in His word; there will always be some doubt somewhere in our lives. We indeed find a number of Christians with more faith than others; however in this flesh we will never have perfect faith in God. The bible tells us to have total faith in Him and in His word and that is certainly our goal. This is the bottom line, that we as Christians can trust God’s word as written because He cannot lie. Titus 1:2 “In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;” God’s word is complete because nothing can be nor needs to be added to it. This is why the scripture warns against this. If God is all knowledgeable, then what could anyone (especially one with limited knowledge such as His creation) add to His word. God knows the beginning from the end therefore He knows what will happen tomorrow and this is why we can have complete faith in Him. Acts 15:18 “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.”

“the word of the LORD is tried” The word “tried” means tested with fire as though you would melt a silver ring to refine the silver out of it and once finished you have only the pure silver left, beloved this is God’s word, pure as pure can be. Psalms 12:6 “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.” Beloved you cannot say this about pastor, father, mother, child, or etc. Only God’s words are pure and can be totally trusted. As a pastor I have a great desire never to tell a lie, never to mislead anyone, or etc. however it does happen because I am not God. My words have not been tried with fire, I do not know every possible thing, and I certainly do not know what will happen in the next 5 seconds much less what is on tomorrow. I have taught heresy in my life, because I was biblically wrong on some issues; however I have trusted God’s word and have since been brought to truth. Is every single thing I believe today perfect with God’s word? I simply cannot answer an absolute yes because I am still in the flesh however I have dedicated my life to study to find out. Beloved no man is 100% correct in God’s word but that is no reason not to strive for that perfection. The word of God has been tried and believe one thing it is pure.

“…he is a buckler to all them that trust in him.” The word “buckler” means shield that’s right He is our protector. The word “trust” means those that flee to Him, so look at it this way God’s word is a protecting shield to everyone who flee to Him for protection. We do not know where our nation’s economic woes are going but to those who trust in the Lord and His word will be just fine. Let us not forget we are citizens of this nation both the just and the unjust and when it rains on one it rains on us all. Matthew 5:45 “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” We will all suffer the same economic woes and we as churches will also suffer, but one thing we have that the lost does not have is a God that has promised to continually love us and to continually protect us because He is our buckler and will be as long as our faith is in Him and His word.

What Must I Do To Be Saved?

Acts 16:30-31 “And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (31.) And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.”

This is a question very rarely asked today, because we are now living in the last days and the Lord has elected not to save many in these last times. I know if you go to an Arminian type of church they will strongly disagree with me, however they will disagree with me on pretty much everything else we teach. Salvation is “The Gift of God” (Eph. 2:8 – 10) and can only be made possible if the Holy Spirit convicts one’s heart (Romans 8:14) and the bottom line is a lot of people’s hearts are simply not being pricked by the Holy Spirit in these last days. People who teach Arminian type of religion are teaching deceit and have convinced people they are saved when they are not. Salvation is not something we as Ministers sell and it is certainly not something we can give away. Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” The offering or giving of salvation is the right belonging only to Christ Jesus because of His sacrifice on the cross. Salvation was bought and paid for by Him and therefore to give it to as many as He chooses. Hebrews 5:9 “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;” We as ministers, pastors, or witnesses are to simply proclaim the gospel message (plant and water) and trust the Lord to do the rest. 1 Corinthians 3:6, 7 “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. (7.) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” Oh how I would to God more ministers and pastors would adhere to this scripture when attempting to give something away that they have not any scriptural right to give away.

The Philippian jailer had just a few moments before hated and despised Paul and Silas, however something changed his deprived heart and that was the Holy Spirit and because his heart was pricked by the Holy Spirit he asked this question; “what must I do to be saved?” he wanted to be saved and I must add what a glorious thing it is for a lost sinner to want to be saved, Paul and Silas told him to “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”. There was no sinners prayer, no talk about joining a church, no talk about baptism, and nothing at all mentioned about working his way to heaven. It was a simple question and a simply answer, and because of the simplicity of it all the Philippian jailer was saved. This is the reason we find good sovereign grace churches so small today, it is because we have not filled them with lost people who think they are saved when they are not. We teach the bible as it is written and not a watered down religion to satisfy the lost membership. Some people today refuse to attend the services of sovereign grace Baptist churches because we are simply too strict, but the truth is we still simply adhere to the Holy Scriptures as they are written. If you are ashamed to attend a sovereign grace Baptist church then maybe you need to concern yourself with what God thinks? Maybe it is not the church but maybe it is you, and maybe this is the reason you attend a watered down version of a church. Maybe you are not saved, and just simply think you are because some Arminian type of church or pastor has told you that you are. I was talking with our adult Sunday school teacher yesterday on this subject and we had discussed truly how tough God is, and what He truly expects of our lives on this earth and how so many today fail to satisfy God in their lives. God is not the simple watered down God that the Arminian type of churches have made Him out to be, He is strong and solid in His ways, and He is no push over. He has strict rules and many will find out one day God is nothing like what they believed or thought. If you have never asked in your heart “what must I do to be saved?” then you are most likely lost and need to be saved and I will simply tell you what Paul and Silas did, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved”.

Murder Is Unjustifiable

Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.”

Let me please be open and honest right up front, the murder of partial birth abortionist doctor George Tiller was absolutely an unjust act and the murderer that done this horrible act should be judged, convicted, and the verdict should be to the fullest extent of the law. The only people that irritate me personally more than the pro-abortionist people are the religionist who protests against abortion. Murder is an unjust act and is a violation of God’s law. However bad it seems to be that Mr. Tiller was murdered does not seem to me to be near as bad as the thousands of unborn babies he murdered during his life on this earth. I personally have never protested because God is sovereign and He has never instructed His people to protest anything. Ephesians 1:11 “In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:” Beloved if God wanted abortion stopped He would stop it, if God wanted every soul saved He would save them, if God wanted every Christian to be healthy – wealthy – and wise then they would be, and etc. I am not going to shed any tears over Mr. Tiller’s death because he was a horrible person for his profession. Mr. Tiller also spit in the eye of every Christian that disagreed with him on abortion, and he enjoyed his work and made millions of dollars at it. I am not going to say he got what he disserved because no one has the right to murder another human being and both of these people will pay account to Jesus Christ before the Great White Throne for their unjust acts. Beloved this world is what it is and it is controlled by Satan. 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” The people (not all but most) on both sides of this issue are lost and controlled by Satan and we have radicals on both sides of this issue. However the one’s that believe there is a right to murder unborn children will use Mr. Tiller’s death forever as a sacrificial tool for many years to come. They will also ignore the murder of Pvt. William Long who was gunned down at an Army-Navy recruiting office in Little Rock, Arkansas just as President Obama did last week.

Beloved, Baptist ever since the Church that Jesus started has never been a violent people. As we read in the history of the Baptist church we never were we a violent people, in fact it was Baptist who suffered the worst violence from the people of religion. Fifty million Baptist and other Christians murdered from about 300a.d. until around 1500a.d. and most of this came from the Catholic Church as wall as other religionist Protestants out of the Catholicism. It is incumbent upon us as Baptist and Christians to live in this world, we may not agree with what they do but God is in command and nothing is done without His allowing it to come to pass. Luke 19:13 “…Occupy till I come.” The word “Occupy” means to carry on with trade until I come. We as Baptist and Christians cannot allow Satan to control our ministries, worship, and witnessing by happenings in the world. We must ignore them, trust the Lord, and let them go their evil way and we go our way bringing praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. Beloved these people are going to make Christians look horrible in the next years to come using Mr. Tiller and any other event they can to make Christians look like hate mongers. I expect it from them so it to no surprise to me. They are blindly walking into the tribulation period and during that time they will hate God even more, so let’s all just pray together that Jesus comes very soon and occupy until He does.