A
major aspect of the battle that rages constantly between
God and Satan has to do with sovereignty over this
earth. Satan attempted to usurp God’s throne in heaven
and failed. Thus, he cannot have heaven, and the
only other place where he might install himself as
god is earth. That is why what happens here is so
important to his strategy.
Looking at this conflict from a broad
perspective it seems the war is being waged on two
major fronts, and those are the battle for the land
of Israel and the battle for the soul of America.
The former has been addressed at prophecy meetings,
conferences, in earlier issues of this newsletter
and other venues, so this newsletter will concern
itself with the latter.
Before wrong conclusions are assumed
I must be clear about something. America is not specifically
mentioned in the Bible, and biblical evidence indicates
she is not a major end-time player in prophecy. Her
people are not nationally dedicated to God and His
agenda. In fact, the executive, legislative and judicial
branches of her government, nationally and locally,
are completely at odds with biblical principles.
Just a few days ago yet another state, Maine, legally
endorsed homosexual “marriage”. Further, our country
is no longer the strong ally of Israel she once was.
From this it is easy to see that our beloved republic
is nearing a very serious face-to-face confrontation
with God.
That said, we must also recognize
there is a righteous element in our country that is
still present, still fighting, and still standing
up for the truth in the face of growing hostility.
We spend money and time supporting godly legal recourse
against the anti-God crowd and their judicial alliances.
We thunder warnings from pulpits about what God has
said and His impending judgment. We put up plaques
with the 10 Commandments and fight for the continued
inclusion of “under God” in the national pledge.
We still send out a few missionaries to those places
where the name of Jesus is yet unheard. We sacrifice
both time and money to send our kids to summer bible
camps because we believe those are more important
than some of those options other people exercise.
And, because of our continued involvement
in those battles we Christians have become the focus
of the most virulent and hateful assaults in the 233
year history of our country. It is this element —
the population with the biblical worldview — that
Satan has to contend with, to spend much of his time
and effort to defeat, and he hates us with a seething
passion. If he can just tip the scales in his favor
by voiding the voice and impact of God’s people then
the United States will become a very effective and
influential tool in shoring up his immoral and ungodly
victories in the rest of the world, and she will quickly
shift from the position of Israel’s ally to that of
her adversary.
America does not have very far to
go before reaching that point. Poll after poll shows
large numbers of Americans are leaving “religion”
each decade. They don’t like what they call “organized
religion” and either switch to something they think
is more “open”, or they simple stop attending churches
and drop any semblance of having religious conviction.
Others flitter from one church to another and never
find what they are looking for. Their exasperation
becomes their justification for dropping out, with
many convincing themselves that even if they might
ever have to stand before God someday to give account
their frustration with “church” will evoke His pity
and thus be an acceptable excuse. In short they fall
back on the old, worn-out pretext, “Well, God understands.”
Oh, how the foolish are self-deceived!
The Truth
vs. The Lie
Years ago a number of public school
systems sent students to Americanism/Communism seminars.
The thrust was to lay out the differences between
the two systems so the future leaders of our country
would be able to successfully debate their philosophical
adversaries with the truth logically carrying the
argument. However, one of the most poignant lessons
taught was how Nikita Khrushchev, Mao Zedong and other
communists of that day defined “truth”. To them the
definition of truth was anything whatsoever that furthered
their cause. No lie was too vile. Every strategy,
no matter how repulsive, was on the table. Because
of that, students learned the very first thing to
be understood in any debate with a communist was their
skewed and deceptive definition of “truth”. To lie
was, and still is, part of their strategy.
Things have not changed much. Satan’s
attack against Eve was based upon the same strategy;
in fact, he invented it. He denied the truth and
offered the lie, and the rest is the miserable history
of the human race. The lie? That one can sin without
consequence because we all are gods anyway. Every
other sin can be traced to this, “the” lie.
So, what is truth? Pilate asked
that question of Jesus (John 18:38). Had he been
in the Garden of Gethsemane he might have heard Jesus
answer the question when He declared that the Word
of God is truth (John 17:17). But, that is just too
blasé for sophisticated people to accept in this day
and age. It reeks of academic ignorance and religious
superstition.
The thing about truth, however, is
that it is “the” standard. It is eternal, it never
changes and has no substitute or equal (Matthew 24:35).
On the other hand the lie, in all its sordid forms,
must of necessity change. It has to bend to social
mores' and expectations. It must fit into every dispensation
of political and social correctness. It has no fixed
form and has no abiding value. Most people, unfortunately,
like the lie because it suits their lustful and unrestrained
impulses, and they loudly extol its virtues by embracing
what they call the “changing social conversation”.
They use many such idiotic terms, but each one is
basically a form of anti-God babbling. These are
the genuine hypocrites whose eyes have been blinded
and whose hearts have been hardened by self-imposed
deception.
Hypocrites? Yes, for they would
never agree that such highly subjective and often
changing standards and principles be applied to critical
personal situations. Standards such as weight, speed,
distance and time. They would demand that an airline
pilot accurately measure flight distances and gross
take-off weights in order to determine a sufficient
load of fuel lest the plane they are on fall out of
the sky due to fuel starvation. They would also insist
that their body weight be accurately measured before
some anesthesiologist administers what is actually
a deadly chemical into their veins and lungs to put
them to sleep. You see, they want fixed standards
applied only when it suits their needs.
The Light
vs. The Darkness
At one time barrooms and saloons
had their windows painted or otherwise covered and
their interiors set in low light. An old man once
told me this was because people did not necessarily
mind participating in what was going on in those places;
they just did not want others to clearly see them
in the act of participating. It seems now no one
really minds seeing and being seen anymore. Most
of the sensitivity has been lost, and darkness is
now openly welcomed.
Light is a figure of speech that
describes knowledge of the truth. It illuminates
the mind and heart, and removes both ignorance and
fear. When it is turned on the vermin of darkness
scatter leaving the filthy evidence of their presence
visible for all to see. So it is with God’s truth.
One righteous person in an office of profane secular
people can cause more discomfort than one profane
secular person in an office of righteous people.
That is why there is such a growing hatred for God,
His word and His people in our country from the seat
of government to the seat of entertainment. The light
is cursed not because it is bad, but because it reveals
evil for what it is by taking away the concealment
darkness provides.
There is something very interesting
about light and darkness. Light is always dominant,
which means darkness is not the opposite of light,
but the absence of light. The reason America is rapidly
becoming immersed in the deepening shadows of spiritual
darkness is our growing national rejection of God’s
light. The result is a pervading darkness that captures,
putrefies and eventually consumes the human soul like
some kind of hideous flesh-eating bacteria.
Spiritual
Clarity vs. Political Correctness
God’s laws and principles are quite
clear, and are good for the human race. He has never
arbitrarily set up rules just for the sake of having
rules. Everything God has demanded regarding the
way we live is for both the general good of the race
and for the specific good of individuals. That His
principles are not liked by some people is clear.
Equally clear is the logical response, so what!?
Who is mankind that the creature would dictate to
the Creator how things will be? When is the last
time any human has actually created life, or a sunrise
or a constellation...or even an amoeba?
American society is drowning in the
cesspool of political/social correctness to the extent
even many churches are being swallowed up. Consider
the report of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) debate over homosexuality on 26 June
2008 (http://www.layman.org/news.aspx?article=24687,
cited 8 May 09): The most intense debate about
the Heidelberg Catechism was over the use of the phrase
"homosexual perversion" in the answer to
question 87: "Can those who do not turn to God
from their ungrateful, impenitent life be saved?”
The old answer: Certainly not!
Scripture says, 'Surely you know that the unjust will
never come into possession of the kingdom of God.
Make no mistake: no fornicator or idolater, none who
are guilty either of adultery or of homosexual perversion,
no thieves or grabbers or drunkards or slanderers
or swindlers, will possess the kingdom of God.'
The new answer: Certainly not; for
as Scripture says no unchaste person, idolater, adulterer,
thief, greedy person, drunkard, slanderer, robber
or anyone like that shall inherit the kingdom of god."
What has happened? They have taken
1 Corinthians 6:9,10 and “modified” it to suit their
wicked hearts. This is not the loss of spiritual
clarity, but the unmitigated rejection of spiritual
clarity. This kind of thing is to be expected from
reprobate secularists, but when it is even debated
by a religious group that calls itself part of Jesus’
church we can rightly conclude such church has willfully
turned aside from the truth. And, as you know, the
Presbyterian Church (USA) is by no means the only
religious group to entertain these and other such
matters. I find it interesting that God is now with
a lower-case “g” in the new answer. Do you suppose
this might say something about their view of God’s
authority?
Conclusion
Things are bad all over the world,
and are getting worse each day. Even now in Europe
Christianity is rare and church buildings, including
grand cathedrals, are almost empty. Those hollow
monuments to religious architecture are fitting illustrations
of the corrupt hearts of the people. Jesus said people
like that are like tombs, whitewashed and clean on
the outside, and full of rottenness and filth on the
inside. Satan has already checked those off his “to
do” list.
The only bastion still standing is
America, and she is wobbling and bending at her knees.
That is not to say America is without religion — she
is full of it. But, Christianity — the religion of
Jesus whose sole authority is His word, the Bible
— is on the decline. Bible colleges, graduate schools
and seminaries are turning out graduates who have
been subjected to revisionist theology and whose worldview
is more akin to that of humanities professors than
Bible expositors. They are taught that the answer
to any spiritual/social/moral question that brings
sinful people under the powerful conviction of the
Holy Spirit instead of making them feel good about
themselves is not only wrong, but emotionally destructive.
Those in America who still believe
the church is the body of Christ and that scripture
is the sole authority for its governance and the sole
source of its message are in a minority. On the other
hand, those in America who now believe the church
should be a liturgical, hierarchical and social institution
whose sole authority is some ecclesiastical group
of men and women who like to bedeck themselves in
religious regalia are in a growing majority. Truth,
for them, has been replaced by the lie and they no
longer even attempt to hide their agenda.
But, even with such victories in
his assault against the truth, Satan is yet trying
to strengthen his hand even more. There is no doubt
he sees this battle as being in its closing days.
He is in the home stretch in his war against this
final stronghold and he has committed all his forces
in an all-out fight for spiritual revolution in America.
And, his successes are evident. The problem is the
modern American church and her secularized host republic
are so infatuated with themselves and each other they
do not even see themselves as being in such a battle.
Anesthetized on board the Titanic.
What shall be the end? True, the
church will not be destroyed from this earth (Matthew
16:18). But, that does not mean our country will
not be spiritually corrupted and destroyed by the
insidious efforts of the evil one through secularism
and the false church in all her various guises. True,
the rapture could likely happen prior to America’s
total spiritual destruction which would end the battle
sooner than later. And, should that happen America
will, of course, be totally immersed among the anti-God
nations and will see her destruction at the same time
as theirs. Either way, the battle for the soul of
this country will continue until whichever comes first.
DLM
