The Scourge Of Racism
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Confusion in God's house is of such an extent in these latter days, many no longer preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ as commanded much less that soul deep repentance from sin and faith in the message is required (Mark 1:14-15). It is impossible to make the Gospel any simpler and easier for people to digest than the way it is plainly stated in the written Word without corrupting it. The same holds true for God's one and only way for already saved folk to get right after we sin. Again, the written Word contains God's simple and easy direction for what a professing Christian that is guilty of sin must do. Without soul deep repentance from sin, there can be no forgiveness for anyone! So, first, what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? According to the apostle Paul through whose preaching of the message we Gentile believers exist, the Gospel is "that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures," (1 Corinthians 15:1-4, NKJV). It is not enough to believe Christ died on the cross. One must believe He died "for our sins." It was our sins that separated us from God and condemned us. But Christ, "The Lamb of God" came to endure God's wrath on the cross for our sins and make possible through His blood their removal by forgiveness (Isaiah 53:1-12; John 1:29, 3:13-21, NKJV). When the New Testament speaks of believing in Christ in the context of salvation, it is not only belief that He is a historical Person, but always with the understanding that men believe the Gospel in which He and His sacrifice are central. Just believing Jesus is a real Person cannot save you. Our faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ centers on His sacrifice to save us from our sins. This faith is preceded by a conviction we are guilty of sin before God and stand in great peril since we have no remedy unless He should act to save us (Isaiah 6:1-7; Romans 7:14-8:1). Leaving sin out as the key issue of the Gospel is another, false gospel and condemns its preachers (Galatians 1:1-10)! Soul deep repentance is spawned by the exclusive work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins that have offended God and include heretofore refusing to believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ (John 16:5-11). In the midst of guilt, shame and an overwhelming regret accompanied by real sorrow in the depths of the soul, the sinner turns from rebellion against God to Him and His help in the Gospel. Hence, in accord with Christ’s command (Luke 24:46-49), at Pentecost Peter answered the men of Israel in their anguish of sin guilt, "Repent…," (Acts 2:36-39, NKJV); Paul assuming conviction of sin and soul deep repentance as immediate antecedents to faith writes Romans 10:6-17. After becoming Christians, we continue to sin against God as He foreknew. In His infinite wisdom and unique greatness, God moves in several ways at once to help us from the moment of salvation. Through the Holy Spirit we are set apart as holy and holiness is worked in us daily as an intended lifelong process leading to glory (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14). The Father begins to father us with loving instruction and discipline (Hebrews 12:3-11). Among the things we are taught is to reflexively confess and repent from our sins trusting in God’s faithful and just character to forgive us because of the finished sacrifice and continuing advocacy of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 John 1:5-2:2). Christians can and many of us do stubbornly resist the convicting work of the Holy Spirit in refusing to confess and repent from our sins. We have varying reasons, but the bottom line is we are loving and preferring our sin to God. The Holy Spirit in grief continues to reach out to us while we shrug Him off in resistance with all manner of deceitful rationalizations and justifications for our sin (Ephesians 4:30). During this time which may be many years, we are certainly in rebellion and not walking by faith. Also, in love the Lord painfully chastens us to the end of finally bringing us around to a “godly sorrow” and soul deep repentance like David (Psalm 51:1-17; 2 Corinthians 7:9-11, NKJV) leading to a purge of sin from our hearts as Josiah purged Israel if we will (2 Chronicles 34:1-7). To see such godly sorrow and soul deep repentance among professing Christians currently in rebellion against God, His Word and order is my hope from the heart of God in writing and speaking with directness (Ezekiel 33:1-9). For the immutable God longsuffering and merciful does judge His people though He desires not to (Ezekiel 18:23, 30-32, 33:10-11; Hebrews 10:26-31; Revelation 2:4-5, 14-16, 20-23, 3:1-3, 15-20). Therefore, let the disobedient of God’s house carefully consider that Daniel voiced prayer in soul deep repentance on behalf of his people from the judgment of captivity looking toward restoration (Daniel 9:1-19); not so for you, but eternal disgrace and ruin await unless you repent now (Hebrews 3:7-19, 12:12-17; Revelation 13, 14:8-11, 16:17-19:4)!
As God’s preacher, I am compelled by His love to contend for the souls of humanity bound by Satan’s ties through preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I fish for men as a first priority because we are His chosen leaders in the human family as He constructed it. Among men are those for whom I am deeply burdened because of our shared experience of being born black in America. If it is true that Satan binds men with spiritual, mental and emotional ties that are common to the human experience, then why have black American males historically had such an extraordinary and disproportionately difficult ordeal in terms of dysfunction, criminality and incarceration?
Nearly two million men are presently on lockdown and just at fifty percent or more of them is black American. They are there for murdering or harming mostly one another through gang and other crime related violence along with all manner of conscience and natural self-control breaching lawless conduct. They are there not only because of a cycle of poverty, low educational attainment, unemployment, fatherless households, culturally conditioned poor choices or the very real white controlled societal apparatus still adverse to them, but also their own self-sabotage as I wrote in June 2015 blogs reflecting on the state of black Americans one hundred and fifty years after slavery.
However, even the foregoing does not get to the root ties Satan has used to bind the black male soul so tautly there is self-hatred enough not only to self-sabotage, but as well, lash out violently on our own people. Again, these root ties are common to mankind, but have been applied during the excruciating events of the black American historical experience; root ties that are the continuing mental and emotional legacies of slavery and racism. By stating this, please do not hear me to be making excuses for the evil behavior of black males as criminals--set free by Christ, I no longer embrace victimization--or somehow diminishing the pain of those hurt by them.
Nevertheless, I can testify to the fact the continuing mental and emotional legacies of slavery and racism as root ties that at some point have bound nearly every black male soul are actual, understandable and hallelujah, removable! As a result of the work of Sigmund Freud and those that have come after him since the turn of the last century, the soul business has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the West. Exploding in the middle of the last century, the troubled souls of mostly whites have paid educated persons to help them identify and cope with any number of mental and emotional maladies through counseling, therapy and drugs. It is even trendy to have a “therapist.”
If the souls of white folk cannot “just get over it” (whatever it is that leads to seeking help), why do the souls of black males have to? Because of the stigma of perceived weakness as a man that remains to this hour though, many pride filled men do not voluntarily present themselves to the soul doctors for help. For black American men, it is also the sense of final capitulation in seeking help after clinging so long to the delusion self-remedies will finally successfully handle the root ties that bind their souls. Besides, if the dismissive attitude from guilt toward the continuing mental and emotional legacies of slavery and racism by white professionals dominant in the soul business is anything like white society at large, why should a troubled black male soul bother?
Among the root ties Satan uses to bind the black male soul as continuing mental and emotional legacies of slavery and racism I have identified in my research and from personal experience are anger, victimization, powerlessness and frustration. Examining just anger for a moment, hostile, violent and subtle oppression as a bully creates anger in its object in short order. Imagine being oppressed almost 400 years with very little relief. Now, imagine being threatened to suppress that anger short of being killed by the bully and add to the mix other sources of anger such as an absent or neglectful father. Any normal human being without any intervening positive coping mechanisms such as Christian forgiveness would be beyond angry (Matthew 6:9-15, 18:21-35)!
I bring up the issue of the continuing mental and emotional legacies of slavery and racism in a number of published works in my “Journal” on our www.fromslaverytovictory.org Web Site. The site beginning on its Home Page points the willing toward the biblical worldview and truths that can begin to bring help, healing and hope to the seeking soul. Too, I mention the legacies related to barriers to black male professing Christians aspiring to become strong men of God in the image of Jesus Christ in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics with an eye toward future elaboration.
In light of all of the trouble black males are having with the police among other white authority figures and their non-coincidental high rate of incarceration, this Black History Month I plead with my brothers by race to recognize we need help; help only God the soul’s Creator can provide through faith in the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Genesis 2:7; Psalm 139:13-14; Luke 4:16-21; 1 John 5:4-5). He alone has the superior power to one by one break every chain as ties Satan has used to bind our souls and enable us to live victoriously as aspiring strong men of God in Him going forward!
In last week’s post, I announced this Ministry’s evangelistic outreach with the Gospel to Generations Y and Z through our latest Online Rally.1 The preaching of the Gospel and witnessing of Christ to make disciples has been and will remain the starting place of our restoration work among men and all mankind until God’s end! This priority is consistent with and clearly signals our continuing obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ who gave it as the Great Commission to His followers (Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-49). Search high and low in the New Testament and you will not find a directive from the Lord to seek to save any nation, no, not even Israel, but souls from among them!
As a concerned, voting citizen of this nation with family and progeny here, I empathize with those calling themselves conservative Christians and patriots that want to fight to save it from its very obvious downward spiral to collapse. But this is not the priority Christ has given His followers. We may use every legal, biblically righteous and praiseworthy means to stand against the evil destroying America as our secondary labor, but the first task authentic believers in Jesus Christ have been given following His example is taking the Gospel to the lost or did He not know Israel was occupied and oppressed by pagan Rome (Matthew 4:12-17; Luke 13:1-3, 15:1-10, 19:1-10, 20:20-26)?
It is actually the Lord’s assignment to preach the Gospel and witness Him making disciples with revival among those already claiming to be in the fold as positive outcomes that hold out the best chance of at least bringing about a temporary slowdown to our nation’s self-destruction as I similarly wrote previously.2 Otherwise, fighting as a priority to forcibly impose biblical morality through political and legal processes on a nation in the majority that does not want it hastens the day of its collapse! The angry response to the recent Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is Exhibit A for the open hostility in the nation toward plain biblical morality and righteousness (Exodus 20:13).
Indeed, the Supreme Court decision taking away the ungodly legal sanction of murder has awakened virulent hostility toward Christians like no other time in our nation’s history.3 The reaction is comparable to taking away an addict’s stash without consent. Expecting the deprived addict to be calmly accepting of this is absurd! Only salvation with Holy Spirit wrought true conversion and biblical instruction can cause anti-Christians enraged by the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade to be “renewed” in their thinking (Ephesians 4:17-24, NKJV). Hence, the wise focus in obedience to Christ on saving souls as a first priority is the best hope for prolonging the nation past a sooner downfall.4
Even so, there is no biblical guarantee the sovereign God will allow America to stand any longer than necessary to harvest from it the balance of souls He has foreknown from eternity will answer His call to repentance and faith in the Gospel of His Son. Working through The Acts Of The Apostles in my personal Bible study, I have been amazed yet again at their faithful evangelistic labor focusing on saving souls, not nations. After the Lord checked them on their anticipation of immediate national restoration and set their priority work on witnessing Him, His twelve apostles maintained their hope for Israel’s future restoration as they obeyed Him (Acts 1:4-8, 15-2:41, 3:11-26, 10:24-48).
The Jewish apostle Christ sent to us Gentiles, Saul of Tarsus also called Paul, was of the same mind (Acts 13:13-49; Romans 11). He made several missionary trips making many disciples from Syria, the Mediterranean Islands, Western Asia, the provinces of Greece and finally Rome itself. Never once did he speak of preserving even his home town or the Jewish homeland. Instead, he concurred with the Lord’s prophecy of wrath coming upon his fellow Jews which it did in 70 AD (Luke 21:20-24; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16). While Jerusalem as the birthplace of Christianity was destroyed and the Jews scattered from the land first, Syrian Antioch and most of the other great cities and territories Paul in Acts preached the Gospel eventually came to ruin also.
Only standing at this hour (with a few other locales where Christianity once took hold in the first century whose final humiliation is in God’s foretold plans) after over nineteen hundred years of ruin because Jerusalem is still destined for its greatest days (Zechariah 14:16-21), the Gospel is being preached anew in it. The point being history clearly shows God as affirmed in His Word has been more concerned about the Gospel being preached for the salvation of souls than the preservation of nations! Those that believe our nation is so exceptional God would not allow its collapse need to sober up in the face of this reality.5 To be about our Lord’s business is to be zealously preaching the Gospel to make disciples as His priority, not fighting to preserve a nation He is judging (Psalm 2)!
1 Read the July 31, 2022 post, God’s Message Of Reconciliation Proclaimed, under the category, The Cause.
2 See the two-part post beginning September 11, 2016, American Culture’s Religion, under the category, Call To Repent. Our nation is in trouble not only because many do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, but also due to the fact a large number that profess to know Him including among conservatives who want all to honor certain moral prin- ciples from the Bible are hypocritically not obeying His Word as it is written themselves and refuse to repent!
3 The Supreme Court’s decision will be looked back on as a trigger event for the coming violent persecution of Christians in America virulent hostility morphs into the Lord has been leading me to warn about (see the two-part post that begins May 17, 2020, Persecution, Hatred And Betrayal, under the category, Bible Prophecy). Their vio- lent persecution explodes on all the saints because of the persistent, forceful acts by conservative, mostly religionist professed Christians through political and legal means from the court’s decision to continue rolling back more of what the unsaved and rebels consider social “progress.”
4 Lack of the transforming power of God in the Gospel at work is the reason anti and those professing to be Christians out of alignment with Christ and His priority of making disciples are so bewildered about why their worldly based efforts to bring peace and order to their lawless communities are not working. I can understand this of unbeliev- ers, but professed Christian pastors and churches--seriously?
5 Some conservative white professed Christians on Christian television of late have been attempting to rebuke biblical conservatives from all hues for not supporting their idolatrous fervor for saving America. On the sly, they have even used blacks that share their view of American history and exceptionalism in an attempt to negate biblically conservative black voices like mine. Shame on the guilty for falling back on this old, well worn tactic of using either unsuspecting or outright complicit blacks to attempt to nullify the righteous truth spoken by those with whom they disagree. Shame too, on the guilty blacks for being complicit out of a desire for their support. Let all repent! For yet another time I cry out in the Lord: biblical conservatism is not the equivalent of political and social conservatism though, the latter selectively borrows from the for- mer! Biblical conservatives in the image of Christ present and stand on God’s Word as it is written (Luke 4:1-21). They as it suits them with their opposition substantiate their claims by the clever and corrupt twisting of Scripture.
The great outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah’s grave sin came from at least four sources: God’s holiness, the holy angels, the physical creation and Abraham’s nephew, Lot, caring for his own soul, his family, unsuspecting strangers and those injured by the iniquity of the cities. All sin offends the holiness of God and demands His righteous and just action upon it. He, however, has very often borne with His holy offense and graciously suffered long with the sinner(s) as He did in Noah’s day and with Israel until there is “no remedy,” (Genesis 6:5-8; 2 Chronicles 36:15-16, NKJV). As earlier noted, God had already been gracious to the wicked cities, but there was no repentance!
The holy angels fully loyal to God are as advertised, holy; having no fellowship with or delight in sin! Myriads of them surround His throne to declare and guard God’s holiness (Isaiah 6:1-7). They watch the activity of fallen angels opposing God and engage with them in accord with His purposes and at His directive (Daniel 10:4-14). They also watch sinful men and carry out judgments upon them in line with God’s will as took place with the king of Babylon (Daniel 4:13-17). God’s holy angels most assuredly cried out to Him continually concerning the grave sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. As such, it is no surprise two angels accompanied the Lord to “see” their grave sin for Himself.
We know on a basic level that the earth is filled with life and living things. However, God’s Word would have us to understand that not only the earth, but “the whole creation” is alive to Him and now, even “groans” waiting for its promised restoration after that of His sons at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:18-23, NKJV). Operating with His firm laws of physics such as gravity, the physical creation retains the original moral order God created it with though, for now, it is under His temporary curse for man’s sin (Genesis 3:17-19). The physical creation is repulsed by the iniquity of mankind who are supposed to be its holy and righteous rulers (Genesis 1:26; Hebrews 2:5-8).3
Finally, the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah came as it turns out from the only righteous man that lived in Sodom, Lot. He was so morally offended by the wicked deeds of his fellow citizens, he sat in the city gate as one of the judges to intercept and if possible protect unaware travelers while his own righteous soul Scripture says was “oppressed” and daily “tormented” “by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds,” (Genesis 19:1-3; 2 Peter 2:7-8, NKJV).4 But even though His own holiness, the holy angels, the physical creation and righteous Lot truthfully, vehemently cried out to the Lord who is Omniscient and Omnipresent about the grave sin of the cities, He still came down for a Personal look.
This tells us how reluctant God in love, grace, mercy and longsuffering is to destroy even the most wicked of human beings. This becomes clear in His exchange with Abraham. From where the Lord stood before Abraham He saw as close as His holiness would allow that all that had been reported to Him in the great outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah was so (John 1:43-51) because the destroying angels started out on their mission while Abraham questioned Him as though the matter was settled. Concerned for his family (Lot) and the people he once went to war to rescue, Abraham wanted to know if God would “destroy the righteous with the wicked,” (Genesis 18:22-23, NKJV)?
The character of God and Abraham shines in their exchange (Genesis 18:24-33). The Lord displays His eternal mercy by being willing to spare Sodom if just ten righteous persons were found in it; Abraham, great humility and reverence for God referring to himself as “dust and ashes,” (Genesis 18:27, NKJV).5 The far gone wickedness of the men of Sodom was shortly confirmed (Genesis 19:4-11). Lot and his family would be delivered from God’s wrath if they were willing to heed and follow him (here again is shown the weight of male headship as God designed). Some were not willing and perished as did Lot’s wife after setting her affections on the city while fleeing it (Genesis 19:12-26).
Saints, take note Lot was moved out of the way of God’s wrath immediately before it fell (Genesis 19:27-29). We are still here now, and remain during all of His warning judgments (Joel 2:30; Revelation 8-11:14) that include allowing Satan to bring his “great wrath” upon our number in such persecution and tribulation by the hands of his emissaries that relatively few saints--a mortal remnant--are left on earth (Isaiah 57:1-2; Daniel 7:15-25; Matthew 24:15-22; Revelation 6:9-11, 7:9-17, 12:7-13:18, 14:9-13, NKJV). Persecutors should know that reducing our number hastens the one and only coming visible, audible Day of the Lord and evacuation of His righteous remnant just before He pours out His full wrath (Psalm 50:1-6; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11; Revelation 6:12-17, 15-16).6
Therefore, let all the guilty especially among professed Christians repent before the Lord now, since He will not grant peace through any means but Himself going forward until after His wrath is fulfilled (Ezekiel 33:10-11; John 14:27, 16:33; Romans 5:1-2). For no one will escape the judgment of disobedience to the call to repent in the Gospel at Christ’s return; judgment that is already underway in the “house of God,” (2 Thessalonians 1:3-12; 1 Peter 4:12-19, NKJV)!7 The wrath of the “Prince of Peace” is perfectly just because as He did at Sodom and Gomorrah, He came in Human form and had not only His Personal look at, but experience with the grave sin of this world when He suffered by our hands for us leading up to and on Calvary’s cross (Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-10, 53, 57:3-13, NKJV).
3 Those that may feel like the creation seems to be acting against mankind in recent years are on to something and it will get worse before it is all over! Truly, the polluting
physical activity of man such as burning fossil fuels is only an infinitesimally small contributor to the unusual weather patterns, storms, intensifying heat, droughts, sea
rise etc. compared to their flagrant transgression, sin and iniquity that defile the earth (Isaiah 24:4-6). Under His sovereign oversight and as warning judgments, God is
allowing the earth (including its wild animals) and soon the whole cosmos to register their displeasure to man’s defiling sin (Leviticus 18, 20; Jeremiah 23:18-20, 25:32-33,
30:23-24; Luke 21:25-26)! Surely, the proponents of global warning do not believe green house gases on earth directly impact the moon, sun or stars light years away, do
they? Rather than green new deals, let the children cry out for their guilty parents to repent!
4 See my Independence Day 2021 post, under the category, Biblical Worldview, where I liken my reaction to the wickedness of our times to that of Lot. Truly, any professed
Christians supposedly sanctified to God that are not disturbed in some measure by the blatant display of human depravity we see and hear everywhere in our day, plainly
show they are false or apostate!
5 O, that such were the case among the many of us professing to be Christians who supposedly in like faith and character are Abraham’s spiritual descendants! This being
so, there is no way that I continue to cry out for repentance at the Lord’s directive among you who claim to know Him. Humility is one of the common character traits of
the image of Christ the Father builds in genuine Christian men and women as I write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics and draw out in The Strong
Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study. These resources are available at your favorite internet book seller and in the
Strong Man Store.
6 Conversely, our large number on the earth forestalls the coming Day of the Lord’s wrath as He assured Abraham in their exchange about His destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. And as the destroying angel instructed Lot, we saints are to know the full outpour of God’s wrath will not occur until we are out of the way (Genesis 19:22-24;
Luke 17:26-37; Revelation 16:17-21)!
7 Attend this Ministry’s 30 minute Strong Man Of God Online Rally at https://thestrongmanofGod.org/Webcast for a fresh, biblically grounded presentation of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ!
Now that I have laid out all of my missteps and taken full responsibility for the bad business decision I made last year, I write about one more aspect of it that is just as relevant and a deadly serious alert sounded to all aspiring strong men of God in the image of Jesus Christ. I am deeply grateful to the men I have regularly met with over the past two years for prayer and Bible study at the church I attend that prayed with and comforted me in my consequences. Tim Staples and Jerry Schoon in particular recognized the involvement of the predator of men’s souls and encouraged as well as interceded for me accordingly. I was responsible for my sin, but as they correctly discerned, I had also been snared.
Since I can remember from my youth marchers protesting injustice of some kind have loudly chanted, “No justice, no peace!” No doubt they are serious about what they chant. Also sincerely stated is what I have heard from the Lord and must declare in accord with my calling (Ezekiel 33:1-9) concerning the guilty among my fellow countrymen that are not Christians and those professing to be who obstinately refuse to repent from their iniquity driven rebellion against Him: “No repentance, no peace!” This word from the Lord is easily and powerfully verifiable in His written Word for those wanting proof God would say such a thing. Otherwise, open your eyes and look around you!
The standing judgment of God Almighty has been upon this world since the excruciating death on the cross, burial and resurrection of His Son on behalf of all sinful mankind in 33 A.D. just outside of Jerusalem, Israel as the Lord Jesus announced (John 12:27-33). But for God’s plans from eternity to punish Israel for her greatest sin of all in being the driving force behind His suffering and have the Gospel of His Son preached in every nation, the fullness of His judgment in wrath would have come upon this world long before now (Luke 19:41-44, 21:20-24, 24:46-49; Acts 2:1-40). Truly, the rebellion against God is not just from among the Gentiles, nor did it start recently (Acts 4:1-31).
Some fourteen hundred years before Christ came at first, during and since the days of Moses and the Exodus, God has had to deal with even foretold rebellion from among those He called to be His chosen people (Exodus 19:1-6; Deuteronomy 4:25-40). Now, the Lord spoke repeatedly to them through His prophets calling the guilty to repentance and carrying out increasingly severe remedial judgments among them warning there would be no peace unless they did repent (2 Chronicles 15:1-7; Isaiah 57:14-21, 59:1-8; Amos 4:6-11). Why is this so? Why doesn’t the Lord just let rebel humanity have its way, go away and leave them alone since they don’t want to do His will?
Surely, beginning in 70 A.D. Israel with the destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, the dispersion of the people to the nations and desolation of the land, the Lord within measured restraint left them and the world to their own devices and no peace in judgment until now, as the prophets and He Himself foretold (Hosea 3, 5:8-15; Matthew 10:34-39, 24:3-8; Luke 13:34-35; Revelation 6:1-8). He restrained lawlessness until recently for the preservation of the Jews many of whom are back in the land since 1948 and sake of the spread of the Gospel.1 But seen at this hour in our nation and around the earth, His restraint is easing as the demonically instigated lawlessness of mankind upticks as a precursor to the coming of “the lawless one” again, as foretold (2 Thessalonians 2:6-8, NKJV).2
Too, is it not because the universe, the earth and man are of the creative handiwork of God? He created all to be in harmony with Him in holiness and righteousness. But man’s sin corrupted and brought the whole creation down into a state of ruin. God has never renounced ownership over His creation even as He has allowed fallen man and angels to temporarily hold sway in it until He would save willing men and restore it! This world ultimately belongs to the sovereign God who created it and retains His right of say so in it. Thus, the wicked kingdoms of fallen man and angels are about to give way to His Kingdom and Anointed King (Psalms 2:6-12, 97, 98; Revelation 11:15, 19:11-20:3)!
The foregoing is the ominous lesson of His wrath in the day of Noah’s flood and fiery destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Though in these mortal days of man we do not typically behold Him in His awesome glory, God reigns enthroned from Heaven and judges the affairs of men in the earth (Psalms 29:10, 33:10-11; Jeremiah 50:35-40). Concerning God’s wrath upon and destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, He did not do it without prior longsuffering and even grace toward the wicked men (Genesis 13:13, 14:1-24) as well as careful consideration of the gravity of their sin and persons. Indeed, the Lord disclosed His deliberations and negotiated with Abraham about what He would do.
Having appeared with two angels as men, the Lord’s first stop on a Personal visit to earth in Human form was to His “friend,” Abraham, to deliver a word of prophetic assurance to him concerning the son He had promised him (Genesis 18:1-15; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8; James 2:23, NKJV). Then, the Lord’s attention turns to the other matter for which He was making a Personal appearance on earth in Human form and determines to disclose to Abraham (Genesis 18:16-19). Speaking to him He says, ‘“Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to Me; and if not, I will know,’” (Genesis 18:20-21, NKJV). From where was the outcry coming?
1 Read the four-part post beginning February 26, 2017, God Of Restoration And Judgment, under multiple categories starting with Bible Prophecy. In the face of calamities
natural and brought by God during this period until now, unbelievers always demand “where is God” as though He only exists to prevent these, not realizing that humanity
lives on borrowed time graciously provided by Him to repent and be saved from His far worse wrath and Hell if they will (Luke 13:1-9).
2 Besides wanting Him to produce for them a calamity free world, God’s doubters, scoffers, critics and angry haters also want Him to deliver one without the kind of grow-
ing lawlessness we now, see. Ah, but what they fail to appreciate is that they can only perceive the uptick in lawlessness because in former days it was not this bad due
to His gracious restraint of it! Now that the Holy Spirit sent to restrain lawlessness fomented by demons is stepping back out of the way to allow its rise with warning
judgments, the godless world the rebels against God clamor for is unfolding leading to the coming of a lawless global ruler. Speaking from former experience, rebels
never think through the ultimate end of their rebellion!
Not only do faithful Christians seeking to obey Christ’s Great Commission face a steadily closing window of opportunity, hardening and cold hearts resisting the Gospel and our witness in these latter days as I have been writing about,1 but diminishing returns on the investment of time, energy and expense made in making disciples! Simplified, diminishing returns is an economic concept companies use to help them understand how costs increase and profit margins decrease over time producing their products. They can typically predict when they need to either make adjustments in their product, spending on it or consider the feasibility of abandoning it altogether.
Faithful Christians need to understand how our preaching of the Gospel and witness of Christ as a spiritual product is also subject to diminishing returns and be encouraged. In the first place, since our product is of divine origin in Word and Person, it has had and has staying power (Matthew 24:35, 28:18-20)! After nearly 2,000 years the Gospel still saves and the testimonies of the saved remain unimpeachable. So, there is nothing wrong with our product. No adjustments are necessary in the Gospel or our witness of its life changing results in Christ though, a number in these latter days have been foolishly and corruptly making them to build their own doomed made to order churches!2
Second, our Lord warned of such days as we live in where it would cost us more in time, energy and expense including blood to present the Gospel and witness Him making disciples (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:11-13; Revelation 6:9-11). One reason for this is that the world is now, saturated with our product! There are relatively few major population centers left in the world where the Gospel has not been preached and a witness of Christ given.3 Spiritual apathy, increasing secularization and rising hostility greet bearers of the message in nations such as our own where Christianity as biblical or manmade religion with apostasy has been settled in for centuries.
Another reason is violent persecution brought upon believers in other nations as the Lord warned where once there was a toleration of Christianity, but now, due to a return to indigenous and national religions it is regarded as a threat to be destroyed. This mentality will reach its global zenith shortly under the auspices of the Antichrist (Daniel 7:15-25; Revelation 13:1-10). Consequently, nearly 2,000 years later our fishing nets are not as full as they once were as recently as the Billy Graham era just last century; diminishing increasingly until that “night” arrives and “no one can work,” (John 9:1-4, NKJV).4 Even so, all of this for us means the glorious Second Coming of our Lord with His eternal rest from and rewards for our Kingdom labor is closer still (Revelation 14:13, 22:12).5
1 Read the August 28, 2022 post, It Is Now Or The Peril Of Never, under the category, The Cause and Shaken, But Not Stirred, posted September 11, 2022, under the category, Biblical Worldview.
2 See the June 5, 2022 post, Made To Order Church?, under the category, Instruction.
3 Though these are minimal outcomes, they are important in the primary mission Christ has given His followers (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:44-49; John 20:19-23; Acts 1: 6-8). If after preaching the Gospel and witnessing Christ no disciples are made or churches planted in a locale (as is often the case in these latter days), we have done well since we are not accountable for the people’s response (Luke 10:1-12; Acts 2:36-47)! In the days of the Antichrist when his reign of evil globally ends the public preaching, witnessing, making, baptizing and teaching of disciples along with church planting by God's mortal saints, He will send an angel with only “the everlasting Gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth” a final time (Revelation 14:6-7, NKJV)!
4 This does not preclude spikes in the harvest of disciples made such as during the Holy Spirit sparked revival I joyfully await that ensues when He marks out the rem- nant of Israel as foretold in a second fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-29; Revelation 7:1-8) before God’s severe trumpet warning judgments begin (Joel 2: 30-32; Revelation 8-9).
5 While as I write in my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics, the first motive of every aspiring strong man and great woman of God in serving our Lord’s Kingdom purposes is love for Him, His promised rest and rewards are excellent biblically taught motivators also (2 Timothy 4:6-8; Hebrews 4:1-13, 12:1-2)! The book is available with the companion Strong Man Of God Men’s Group Study and Great Woman Of God Women’s Group Study in the Strong Man Store, at your fa- vorite internet bookseller or brick and mortar bookstore.
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