(Note: While this was written as a response to the 2016 Presidential election, it is relevant to all changes in governmental structure anywhere in the world and in any age, whether we like that change or not.).
On Tuesday November 3, 2012 God passed judgment on America, like He does every election day. Now it is time to figure out what He is saying. To do this, we need to lay some basic Biblical foundation. Then we need to respond to God’s call on us and not react to our fears and frustrations. God is sovereign over nations, governments and our lives. In spite of the way we misuse our free will, God is smarter that we are, and like a brilliant computer that can defeat all the grand chess masters and their decisions, He can still accomplish His ultimate goals in our world. The Bible says that God lifts up kings and puts them down. God is in control. Fear not!
Job 12:23-25 “He (God) makes the nations great, then destroys them. He enlarges the nations, then leads them away. 24 “He deprives of intelligence the chiefs of the earth’s people, and makes them wander in a pathless waste. 25 “They grope in darkness with no light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man. NASB
Isa 41:2 He delivers up nations before him, and subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, as the wind-driven chaff with his bow. NASB
Dan 2:20-21 “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. 21 “And it is He who changes the times and the epochs. He removes kings and establishes kings. He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding. NASB
God gives us the government we deserve by giving us the government we want. Fifty-one percent (50.5%) of the Americans who voted wanted the government that won that Tuesday. We as a people told God what we wanted and He gave it to us in hopes that living with what we thought we wanted will eventually cause us to want Him instead. (Go to www.wayneclark.name to see my blog and hear my classes on this topic The Government We Deserve.)
All evil in the world is caused by the abuse of man’s free will. We would like God to always prevent our bad decisions and allow only our good ones. That is, unfortunately, a logical nonsense. Actually we EACH of us in a group want God to take away the consequences of our bad decisions (versus those of others) or those actions that are not favorable to us individually, but we live in a community of people all wanting different things. Both sides want their football team to win. God cannot take away our free will selectively. That is how children think. With free will comes two things: the ability to win, and the responsibility to steward within our freedom.
We are the stewards of the earth. It is our job to win the lost. If we do that half-heartedly, the lost will soon rule over us. Bearing witness is done by how we live, not how we talk.
Matt 28:18-20 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. ” NASB
We must first “Go.” We cannot just sit at home unengaged in the process and hope it works out okay. Making disciples is an active demonstrative exercise, not just a lecture. We must teach them “to observe” God’s ways, not just to “know” the things of the Lord. We have too long described the Gospel as something you know (right doctrine) rather than something you do (right practice.) The demons “know,” but it does not save them.
James 2:19-24 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. 20 But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? 22 You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. 24 You see that a man is justified by works, and not by faith alone. NASB
Two sons were told by their father to perform a task. One said “Yes,” but did not do it. The other said “No,” but did it. It was the one who actually obeyed that was the obedient son, even though he originally said he would not go.
Matt 21:28-31 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the vineyard.’ 29 “And he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; and he did not go. 30 “And he came to the second and said the same thing. But he answered and said, ‘I will not’; yet he afterward regretted it and went. 31 “Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The latter.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax-gatherers and harlots will get into the kingdom of God before you. NASB
If we are to teach the world to observe the things of God, we must ourselves be people who observe, not just know, the things of the Lord. We make people the disciples that we are. American Christianity has become like the church of Laodicea in the book of Revelations.
Rev 3:14-22 “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'” NASB
We are called to be “fishers of men,” but we have quit fishing with nets and started fishing with hooks. Biblical fishing in Jesus’ day was done with supportive nets. Modern fishing is done with garish painful “hooks,” schemes, slick presentations. The real church has always won the lost through love and service. The church fails when it results to tricks, mental arguments, sales techniques, and dumbing down the gospel.
If we are to win the people back, we must love God first and go help our neighbor. If we do that well, they will ask us for an introduction to the source of our abundant life. They need to see in us a victorious people, a generous and loving people. Why would anyone want to become like a defeated people who only know how to be happy in good times?
We cry out that we are living in difficult times and that our children have no future. We wring our hands and say that “All is lost.” If so, we do not know our God, our Bible, or our own history. We have been here MANY times before. God has always revived us when we repented. There is an historic cycle of how mankind has walked before the Lord.
The people of God start off in trouble, in poverty, in desperate need, in slavery in Egypt or eking out a bare existence in the new world seeking a place where they can serve the Lord and be free. They start off persecuted and praying with all of their hearts. They learn to trust God in the midst of difficulty because difficulty is all they know. That tunes up their relationship with God and causes them to be highly identified with the condition of those around us. They are based in the Two Great Commandments; i.e., Love God and Love People.
Their relationship with God and their neighbor causes God to act on their behalf and they prosper (at some level) over time. Then they begin to focus on their prosperity and lose focus on their relationship with both God and their neighbor. Their new god becomes the acquisition of wealth, the exercise of consuming it, and a focus on themselves. They wander away from right relationships (righteousness) with both God and neighbor and drift off into the darkness.
Eventually they cannot see or hear God or the plight and cry of their neighbor. They ignore the prophets, hire preachers that tickle their ears and listen to the wisdom of the world. They start buying into “gospels” of prosperity and comfort. They substitute relationship with God and neighbor for religion and ritual, like a married couple who fall out of love and just go through the motions.
When we ignore the Lord over time, He eventually gives us what we think we want. Eventually the ungodliness in our nation reaches a critical mass and we become captured by the expanding power of the world. We become lukewarm, at best, and God vomits us out of His mouth. We become the church at Laodicea above. We give God second and third best and He locks the doors of His sanctuary against us. (Read all of Malachi.)
His displeasure grows over time but we are not listening until one morning we wake up and find ourselves in exile in our own country. That is what happens to many of us on the day after the Presidential election. We do not want what has come upon us, especially upon our children and grandchildren. So how do we return to God so our nation we can return to Zion, the dwelling place of God upon the earth. We must “humble ourselves and pray and turn from our wicked way.”
2 Chron 7:11-22 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord and the king’s palace, and successfully completed all that he had planned on doing in the house of the Lord and in his palace. 12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now My eyes shall be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 16 For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17 And as for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked even to do according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18 then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying,’ You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’ “But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight, and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21 As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22 “And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.'” NASB
What are the steps that we must take to be restored to God? First, we must acknowledge that God is right to discipline us and we must humbly accept our discipline.
Heb 12:3-15 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart. 4 You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; 5 and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons, “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor faint when you are reproved by Him. 6 For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives.” 7 It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, that we may share His holiness. 11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. 12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, 13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. 14 Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. NASB
Second, we must realize that our gospels of prosperity, comfort and the easy life have not been the voice of God. We must place loving God and walking before Him in righteousness ahead of our comfort and pleasure. We actually need to abandon the effort to save ourselves and our way of life in favor of honoring God and His way of life.
Matt 7:13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by it. 14 “For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it. NASB
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” NASB
Rom 5:3-5And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. NASB
Rom 8:35-39 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long. We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. NASB
Rom 12:9-21 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, 13 contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. 17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. 19 Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. NASB
Phil 4:4-7 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. NASB
Third, we must repent; i.e., turn 180 degrees and journey back to God. This will involve living very different lives than in the past. Refocus on the Two Great Commandments: Love God first (relationship) and Love your neighbor as yourself (relationship). If we keep these commandments; i.e., Love God, Love people, all the other ones will flow from those two.
Fourth, we must accept Jesus as Lord and not just Jesus as Savior. We must obey Him, not just look for Him to save our butts from trouble. Our focus in America has been wrong. Walking with God is about obedience and sacrifice, relationship and service, not escaping trouble and ensuring that happy days are here again. (Go to my website at www.wayneclark.name to see my blog and to hear my classes on this topic Jesus is Lord.)
Fifth, we must have faith and hope. God always responds to the genuine repentance of His people. Time and time again He has sent judges, leaders, and prophets, to set His people free, if and when they have returned to obedience. The best times of growth and revival have come at the darkest hours of persecution and ruin. It will take a miracle to accomplish what needs doing financially and spiritually, but we serve a miracle working God.
1 Thess 5:9-11 For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with Him. 11 Therefore encourage one another, and build up one another, just as you also are doing. NASB
Some of us may feel (and honestly so) that we have been rightly related to the Lord and that we have put God first in our lives. We have daily conversations with God our Creator, with Jesus our Master, and with the Holy Spirit our Sanctifier. We have our stewardship in order, our appetites under control, and our relationships with all men are based in love and forgiveness. We serve God and our fellowman, and we keep the commandments. We are generous with God’s money and our time. We grow in sanctification because we ask the Holy Spirit to show us our flaws and empower us to live above them. Many of us may feel that we do all of this or most of it, or we do it most of the time and more of it than we used to do. Some of us are no doubt doing better than the culture at large. That’s good! We are on the right path. But we still live in a nation that has fallen and is being judged.
In every age there is always a remnant of believers who walk before God in the midst of a fallen world. God told Isaiah in the midst of his scathing judgment of Judah, “Say unto the righteous, it will be well with you.” (Is 3:10) He meant well with them “in exile.” Jesus told the good churches in Revelation to endure to the end to be saved. He meant endure the difficulty of tribulation. God marked the foreheads of the righteous people in Jerusalem so He could take care of them when He destroyed the city and hauled them away with the unrighteous (Ez 9:4). Our calling in the midst of judgment is to be a light to those around us, a witness to the love and care of God, a minister to the “good news” in a dying culture and shepherds to the lost sheep.
It is not about us and it is not about now! We are servants of the Most High! We must be about His business. Now more than ever, people need assistance and leadership. We need to be strong in the Lord, put on the full armor of the God (Eph 6:10-20) and do battle FOR the lost, not With the lost. This is our hour to serve God and our neighbor like Jesus did and like He called us to. Was Jesus not perfect and deserving of rescue? He tells us to take up our cross and follow Him. We hear Him say, “I wish we could skip this stage, Father, but not My will, but Thine be done.” We need to pick a side, grow up, man up and become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
We need to act on that faith we claim we have, operate in that hope we say we have, and demonstrate that love we claim to have. The Bible sustains me every day in every way, but there is one scripture that tells me how I should live in difficulty and persecution. There are many, actually, but I like this one. It is the advice given me by King David in his worst persecution. It is Psalm 37. I offer it to you as a guide in this time of difficulty.
Ps 37:1-6 Do not fret because of evildoers. Be not envious toward wrongdoers. 2 For they will wither quickly like the grass, and fade like the green herb. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He will do it. 6 And He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.
Ps 37:7-11 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him. Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. 8 Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Do not fret, it leads only to evildoing. 9 For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. 10 Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place, and he will not be there. 11 But the humble will inherit the land, and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity.
Ps 37:12-17 The wicked plots against the righteous, and gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him; for He sees his day is coming. 14 The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow, to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. 15 Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken. 16 Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many wicked. 17 For the arms of the wicked will be broken; but the Lord sustains the righteous.
Ps 37:18-22 The Lord knows the days of the blameless; and their inheritance will be forever. 19 They will not be ashamed in the time of evil; and in the days of famine they will have abundance. 20 But the wicked will perish; and the enemies of the Lord will be like the glory of the pastures. They vanish — like smoke they vanish away. 21 The wicked borrows and does not pay back, but the righteous is gracious and gives. 22 For those blessed by Him will inherit the land, but those cursed by Him will be cut off.
Ps 37:23-26 The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way. 24 When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the One who holds his hand. 25 I have been young, and now I am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, or his descendants begging bread. 26 All day long he is gracious and lends; and his descendants are a blessing.
Ps 37:27-34 Depart from evil, and do good, so you will abide forever. 28 For the Lord loves justice, and does not forsake His godly ones. They are preserved forever; but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. 29 The righteous will inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. 30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. 31 The law of his God is in his heart. His steps do not slip. 32 The wicked spies upon the righteous, and seeks to kill him. 33 The Lord will not leave him in his hand, or let him be condemned when he is judged. 34 Wait for the Lord, and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land. When the wicked are cut off, you will see it.
Ps 37:35-40 I have seen a violent, wicked man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. 36 Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more. I sought for him, but he could not be found. 37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; for the man of peace will have a posterity. 38 But transgressors will be altogether destroyed. The posterity of the wicked will be cut off. 39 But the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord. He is their strength in time of trouble. 40 And the Lord helps them, and delivers them. He delivers them from the wicked, and saves them, because they take refuge in Him. NASB