We live in a unique era of time. For those of us in America, we live in relative peace. What most don’t realize is that peace is historically rare. Often, war has governed societies. The Bible reveals why fighting and warfare is the natural state of mankind: “What leads to [the unending] quarrels and conflicts among you? Do they not come from your [hedonistic] desires that wage war in your [bodily] members [fighting for control over you]? You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your lust goes unfulfilled; so you murder. You are envious and cannot obtain [the object of your envy]; so you fight and battle. You do not have because you do not ask [it of God].” James 4:1, 2, Amplified Bible. And right here, we see our great need for civilization: there must be something outside of us that stops us when we cannot stop ourselves, due to our own lust.
America’s founding fathers, most of whom were in their twenties and early thirties when they drafted the Declaration of Independence and American Constitution, recognized the great need for having civilization. Yet, because they were men who had studied history, they recognized most civilizations fail. Civilization is tenuous and can be easily broken by its own people. Once broken, civilization is extremely hard, if not impossible, to restore. That’s something we take for granted, for we have known nothing else. We haven’t known the hardships that can be caused by our own actions, due to mankind’s natural state — to war, fight, and battle — due to our own lusts, envy, and desire for pleasures in this life. The veil of civilization is very thin, and can be easily broken by those within it.
“It takes something divine to restrain the evils within men and women.”—Scott Wallis
As we celebrate our 250th anniversary as a nation, I am concerned that so much false information and fantasy narratives are being spoken that people no longer have an understanding of the brutal realities revealed in scripture. Mankind is not by nature good. Men and women can do despicable things, and then, for self justification, accept intolerable evils, having their conscience seared. Today, a generation is at the point of having a seared conscience — a conscience that cannot discern right from wrong. In fact, we have a judiciary that recognizes rights, but cannot tell right from wrong — they have no good judgment or common sense. But law is meant to be the rule of reason not of political passions. Yet today, passions enflame us, even among judges. How can our civilization survive without conscience?
Truth is, we face severe issues that must be overcome. Among these, are our own predilection to self justify. In fact, that may be the most dangerous thing to America. And the firewall to that danger is offline, it’s not able to protect the country from a total collapse. Why? Because it has been dismissed as being irrelevant. What firewall of civilization am I speaking of? The preacher. The preacher is the divine protector of societies. Where there is no preacher, no prophet who speaks with the voice of God to a nation, that civilization is on the edge of ruins, for it takes something divine to restrain the evils within men and women.
As Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, so eloquently states, “the pulpit is ever this earth's foremost part; all the rest come in its rear; the pulpit leads the world." Civilizations rise and fall by what is preached from the pulpit. The preacher’s inability to confront the moral corruption in our age showcases our real need for prophets, men and women of certitude to declare the unwavering message of the gospel in a politically dark, morally corrupted world that lives by the law of the jungle rather than the law of God. A line is drawn in the sand, a plummet has been dropped against our culture, we are being weighed in the balance by the One who has pure eyes of fire. My question: How long can our nation last if preachers aren’t willing to give “their last full measure of devotion” to the gospel, to save a lost generation morally corrupted by preachers who deliver a message of moral ambiguity?
When good is called evil and evil good, when darkness is called light, and when bitter is called sweet and sweet is called bitter, our moral compass has become broken. The prophet Isaiah delivers an unwavering prophetic message to those caught in that moral fog: “You are headed for trouble! You say wrong is right, darkness is light, and bitter is sweet.” Isaiah 5:20, CEV. America, when fraud is tolerated and murder is celebrated, we have a problem. When violence seizes the minds and hearts of people continuously and voices of moderation and reason drowned out by mindless chants celebrating the murder of others, and we call that good, just, and right, we are morally bankrupted as a society. The prophet Isaiah delivers a message to us: “‘There is no peace for the wicked,’ says the LORD.” Isaiah 48:22, God’s Word Translation.
Civilizations are torn down by evil hands following wicked hearts and corrupted minds. Your heart is revealed by what you say. Your words showcase, dear sir and madam, the evil in your heart and mind. And preacher, prophet, pastor, apostle, it’s your duty, yes, your moral responsibility before God and man to call out our moral laziness, ambiguity, hypocrisy, and corruption. As God said to the prophet Ezekiel, so He says to us, “If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.” Ezekiel 3:18, NLT. Notice, the wicked are responsible for their sin and the preacher and prophet are responsible for delivering the warning. Here is your warning!
Thus says the Lord, I will certainly deliver the wicked over to their wicked devices and cause them to reap what they have sown and you shall know that I Am the Lord. Yes, a whirlwind awaits you and will hunt you down to destroy you for the evil of your ways and doings, and you shall know that I Am the Lord. I will certainly do this. Not in the far future, but in the near future. That’s right! My word shall no longer be held in abeyance, says the Lord. I will certainly bring to pass all I have said, and as My Word says, My judgment is just.
Return to your foundation and you shall be secure against the storm and return to My ways and you shall not be destroyed, for I Am merciful and just. Yes, return to Me and shall see your land become a nation of liberty, says the Lord. For that is My desire and dream for you, O beautiful land of liberty. Yes, it’s My desire and design for you. For I have called you out of darkness and brought you into the light, for My glory, to showcase you to the world, as a picture of what shall be. That is My design and desire for you I lady of liberty. Therefore, put away your evil ways and desires and return to the paths of righteousness and you shall be secure in this season. For My desire and dream is to make you a light for all the world to see to showcase Me, O land of liberty. Your time is at hand, and you shall see the rise and fall of many, who refuse to heed My warning and refuse to give ear to My voice, for I will sift you as wheat is sifted and shovel you as grain is shoveled and you shall know that I Am the Lord. Amen.
Now is the time, now is the day, and now is the hour of your visitation, says thy God. Therefore, awake and turn to righteousness. I await your response to My voice and call, even now, says the God and Lord.
Let us pray!
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