God's Mercy On America Allows Judgment

Praise God. I'm going to bring it to a close, and when we do, then we're gonna go to communion together. So for those that are at home, it'd be delightful if you're going to be able to join us this evening. Now, I can't speak for every country that's represented in this prayer meeting tonight. For all of those that are online, and in some places, of course, you know this. We have people with us this evening from Syria who are about to be baptized. That's one of the prayer requests that came up on the screen tells us, and we recognize that you know what it's like to live all of these things. Now, in America, we've not fully understood this, but by the grace of God, we're going to. At present, as we heard tonight, our cities are not safe any longer. The people within them are hungry and thirsty, and their souls are fainting. If you don't believe that, take a trip to New York City, once you can get in across the border, and just go to Times Square. You'll see that on every street corner. People are, there's literally a collective groan in the populace now. This is why our cities in some of our states are in constant upheaval, because there's an emptiness in the people. There's a desolation in the people. They're looking for a city to dwell in. Everyone wants a just society, but they're not quite sure exactly what that's going to look like, and of course, I want to suggest it isn't possible without the Spirit of God and the redemption of Jesus Christ. There will always be bitterness and always be grievance, so the justness we seek, apart from God, is simply an illusion. There are people sitting in darkness tonight across America in the shadow of death, because they rebelled against the words of God. There are so many cities and towns in America that have a church literally on every corner of every street, and the words of God have been spoken, but we chose to believe something else. We chose to go another way. We chose other pursuits, and because of it, our hearts have fallen down with labor, and there's no one to help, and there's a cry now in homes, and it's heartbreaking to read the prayer requests that are coming in. We're pushing close to 500,000 prayer requests now, and the numbers of families, the numbers of marriages that are being destroyed right before our eyes, the parents that don't know what to do about their children, the school system that's teaching literally immorality into the lives of, programming immorality into the lives of children. The parents feel helpless to know what to do, and I can't help but think of all the moms and dads that are crying tonight. They go to bed crying. They're crying out in their sleep for their children, and the cry doesn't have to be loud. It can be a whisper. It's not a prayer any longer. It's deeper than a prayer. It's a moment of desperation. It's, God, there's no hope if you don't come and help us. You think about the people in Egypt when the children are being thrown into the river. They're being forced into labor. They're being marginalized and mocked for their faith in God, and yet there was this cry, and I don't think it was necessarily audible even at night, but there was a cry in the hearts of the people that God heard and came down to save them, as the scripture says, to break their chains in pieces as he did for his people who were captivated in Egypt. The scripture talks about, and we heard about tonight, people who are just out of foolishness, believe that God's word can be transgressed without consequence, and the definition of insanity is doing a similar action over and over again and each time expecting a different result. The one thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history. You cannot mock God. The scripture says don't be deceived. God will not be mocked. Whatever a man sows, may I say whatever a nation sows, she will also reap, and the things that have happened to other countries and other cultures that have defied the word of God will also happen to this nation and are happening now to this culture. The last, of course, is commerce, which God blessed this nation, perhaps in a deeper way than any other nation in the history of the world, and that's not an idle boast. I mean, the technological advances in just 400 short years that came into this nation that was birthed on the cornerstone of having the freedom to worship God according to conscience and the desire of the founders, at least in Plymouth in the year 400 years ago, the desire was to have a nation where the gospel of Jesus Christ could be propagated throughout the whole known world, that God would do something here so powerfully that other nations would stand up and take notice, and surely the Lord did that. America became, in a sense, the envy of the world. That's why people will risk life and limb to cross rivers still today to get out of where they are into a place where there at least used to be freedom. We're in danger of losing it today, but there was freedom. It's been the hallmark, a nation governed by the people and for the people, not top-down from government, but bottom-up from the people, where the government became a representative of the people and responsible to and answerable to the people. It was so unique in the world because most other countries are historically dominated by dictatorships from the top down. Now, those who formed the Constitution of this country knew that this form of government was wholly unsuitable. As one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence said, this kind of government is wholly unsuited to any other than a moral people, a people who have a moral base in Christ. May I put it that way? Who have a deep sense of conscience, who have a desire to do right and to live for God and to obey the word of God. America began to be so enamored with the blessings that the blessings overtook the culture, overtook the minds of the people, as it did also for the children of Israel time and again. In verse 23 of Psalm 107, it says, those who go down to the sea and ships do business in great waters. They see the works of the Lord, his wonders in the deep. He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves and they mount to the heavens. They go down again to the depths. It speaks to me of the stock market in America. Everybody's happy when it's up and they start getting depressed when it goes down. Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wits end. And I believe in the mercy of God. Now, I want you to hear me on this tonight, in the mercy of God. Remember that mercy triumphs over judgment. Certain things must be put into place. When a people depart from the living God, there are consequences to that departure. And of course, we are socially, culturally, financially, or other way, experiencing those consequences now. They're beginning and they're starting to get more rapid as time goes forward. But the scripture tells us when we get to the end of these things, God's mercy is going to take away this blanket of false security. You cannot serve two masters, Jesus said. You can't serve God and money at the same time. You will love the one and hate the other, or love this one and hate the other one. You can't serve them both. And sad to say, I believe that America has tried to do that and it has created a false sense of security in the nation. But as I said earlier, mercy triumphs over judgment. It is the mercy of God that will pull this carpet of false security out from under the nation. And for a season, we're gonna have to go through some very, very real hardship. The people of God, as Dr. Teresa said, are gonna have to go through it as well. We're not gonna be exempt from it. But we have a power source in God. We have a life source in God. We have a value system in God that is not of this world. And the storms will beat against it, but it won't fall because it's not founded upon the sand. It's founded upon the rock of a relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ. And it's the mercy of God that will cause the ship, as in Acts 27, to fall apart. And the people begin to cry out when they know that there is no way of saving themselves and there's no way of going forward. And the Bible says that when they cry, he brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm so that its waves are still. And then they're glad because they're quiet. And he guides them to the desired haven. I had an opportunity once to speak to about 100 or so of the top financial people in Canada and the US at a specific event where they were taking up an offering for hunger in Africa. And I remember making the point in the moment where I was speaking, I said, you know, some of you, you have houses on every continent and you're about second or third rung from the top in your field and you're almost close to the top where there's nowhere to go once you get to the top. And you have this nagging thought in your heart that if it's no better at the top for me than it is now, then life is no longer worth living. I remember the tears that came to some people's eyes. I remember the tears that came down a few faces in that room where people had to suddenly admit, God, I have it all. I have all the money that this particular country can offer me and I have the position, I have the power. And there might be some people tonight listening and you think that, well, the gospel of Jesus Christ is just for losers. The gospel is for people who just didn't make it in life. The gospel is for people who got stuck on drugs or in bad relationships and it's for the down and outer. Well, I've got it all. Well, do you really? Then why is your heart so empty? Why are you even listening to this prayer meeting tonight if you really do have it all? You're in the same condition that so many people in that room were that night who finally were confronted with the reality that money doesn't satisfy, position doesn't satisfy. You crave for more, you climb a little higher on the ladder and you're just as empty on the next rung as you were on the previous one before because there's nothing of this world that can satisfy the human heart apart from coming back to its creator, the one who made us in his image. You see, we'll never be satisfied till we get back there. And God in his mercy will take away everything that keeps us from coming back there. Do you understand that? It's mercy that will cause you to lose it all in the future. It's mercy that will cause you to cry out to God when you come to your wits end and you just don't know where to go and everything you've pursued is suddenly you've hit a brick wall and you don't know what to do. And it was God alone that will calm your storm. It's God that will make your waves still. It's God that will make your heart glad because he will guide you to the place that you have always longed to be. You've always longed for a security that this world doesn't offer you. That's why you're never satisfied. That's why you're not satisfied in your marriage. You're not satisfied with your job. You're not satisfied with the numbers of houses that you've got. You're not satisfied with the largesse of your bank account. You always think it has to be bigger because there is nothing of this world that satisfies. That is why your heart is so empty tonight. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness and his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people and praise him in the company of the elders. Let us get back to the place of saying, God, you are so good and your ways are so above our ways and your mercy endures forever. You remember in Solomon's temple when the glory of God came down so powerfully that they couldn't even stand to minister in the temple. What were they singing? God is good and his mercy endures forever. It's the mercy of God that will allow us to get to a place where we start crying out to him. It's the mercy of God that will turn our rivers into wildernesses, in verse 33, and our water springs into dry ground. It's the mercy of God that will take a fruitful place that we think is gonna satisfy, but it's not birthed or born in God. And he will cause it to go into barrenness. He will turn our deserts into pools of water when we turn to him, our dry land into water springs. He will give us a place to live. He will establish a city for a dwelling place. He will bless us and multiply you greatly and not let your cattle to decrease. It is God's desire to bless you, but not apart from loving him first with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength. And the scripture concludes by saying, when we're brought low and diminished through oppression, affliction, and sorrow, and a lot of people are feeling that way today, tired of being oppressed, tired of being afflicted, tired of being marginalized, tired of feeling sorrow for our future and for our children, the scripture says he will pour contempt on princes and cause them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way. He will fight against your oppressors. He will fight against every force of hell and darkness that tries to block your way to coming back to a living relationship with God through his son, Jesus Christ. And your oppressors will be driven into the wilderness. But you and I in our poverty, when we know that we need God, when we know that nothing of this world that we've tried is gonna satisfy, he will set us on high from affliction. He will give us a family like a flock. He will bring us into the body of Christ and no one will be alone or hungry or thirsty and have no dwelling place any longer. There will be no bars there. There'll be no gates there. There'll be no bondage there. There'll be no imprisonments there. There'll be just songs of praise unto God. The righteous will see it and rejoice, the psalmist says. And all iniquity will stop its mouth. Everyone who says, where is your God, will suddenly be silent because the presence of God will be in the midst of his people. And he will see, they will see you who are addicted tonight, dancing and praising. They will see you set free from the oppression that's all around you. They will see you finding a source of security that nothing in this world ever could give you even though it offered it to you every day. Then the scripture says, whoever is wise will observe these things and they will understand the loving kindness of the Lord. You feel like you have no future tonight. You feel like you have no hope. You feel like everything is destroyed as we heard our brother Ross say tonight. You feel like you have no future. You feel like you've been foolish as we also heard from Susie tonight. But you need to know that God has allowed you to feel this way because he loves you. And he has waited for your cry. You know, the cry doesn't even have to be audible. He hears it anyway. It's just in you. It's in you when you walk down the street. It's in you when you're alone in your kitchen in the morning. It's in you when you go to bed at night. It's in you when you go to work or look for a job. It's in you when you think about your children. And even though you might not be able to utter it, God still hears it. Isn't that amazing? And he said to Moses, I've heard the cry and I've come to deliver my people. That's the word that God's given us for you tonight, that he's heard your cry and he's come to deliver you. All you have to do is admit that you're a sinner and you need a savior. Admit your condition. Admit that you can't save yourself. Admit that you've rebelled, you've been foolish, you're lonely, you're empty. You haven't found the dwelling place that satisfies. And believe that God so loved you that he sent his son, his son, 2,000 years ago. God came to earth as a man and went to a cross and suffered a beating almost beyond human understanding to pay the penalty for all the wrong that you have done against him. He took it all upon himself and he took your failure and he took the distance that you had from God. He took the sin, the wrongs that you have done and they're all put on Jesus Christ. And he took them to a cross and he destroyed their power over you. He destroyed the penalty, the right that these things had to your life for eternity, he destroyed it. If you will believe that Jesus Christ died in your place because he loves you, not because he felt obliged to, he came because he loves you, he came to get you. I have loved you, he said to his people Israel, with an everlasting love. A nursing mother could forget her child but I can't forget you because I've engraved you on the palms of my hands. When those nails went through the wrists of Jesus Christ, the palm, his hands on that cross, your name was engraved on his hand. And he said, I will not forget you. A nursing mother could forget, society can get so evil that mothers can forget their children but I will never forget you, I will never forget you. I've always believed that when Jesus Christ died on the cross and the scripture says he gave a shout, he gave a final shout, so powerful, so loud, a shout like a centurion, a Roman centurion who crucified him, had crucified a lot of people but had never heard a shout like that in his whole life. It caused him to say, surely this must have been the son of God, I have always believed that your name was in that shout, my name was in that shout. He was calling to you, he was crying for you because he created you and he loves you. If you will simply invite him into your life and confess him with your mouth as your Lord and Savior. And just tell others, confess to him first and then tell others, I have given my life to Jesus Christ. I got a text recently, a young man got up in the middle of a prayer meeting, one of these prayer meetings, he just stood up and said, I'm going with God. Somebody was just invited, I don't know what the circumstance was but he just stood to his feet and said, I'm going with God. He confessed with his mouth that Jesus Christ had become his Lord and Savior. I'm gonna ask you to pray these simple words with me tonight and make them your own. Make them your own, God loves you. Pray with me and everyone in the sanctuary, pray it too as well please for those that are online. And everyone in every home tonight, pray out loud for the sake of the one who needs to pray this, Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me, thank you for coming to get me and offering me life, not just eternally but here too, bringing peace into my heart and bringing me back into a right relationship with God. Jesus Christ, I give you my heart tonight. I give you my life and my future. Forgive me for the foolish things I have done. Forgive me for the rebellion in my life. Forgive me for looking for happiness apart from you. I'm sorry for my sin and tonight I invite you into my life to be my Lord and my Savior. I confess you tonight as my Savior and by your grace and mercy, I will walk with you for the rest of my life in Jesus' name. So Father, in Jesus' name, stretch your hand out now through the internet and seal this work in every heart of every person that prayed it tonight. Amen. I ask you, Lord, that you'd make it just so real that the devil could never come and say, no, that wasn't for you, it was for you. I ask you, Lord, just to fill everyone with your Holy Spirit that longs to know you in a way, God, that will make a difference in their generation as David did, that they could get up and reclaim that which has been taken captive. Father, thank you for the miracle of salvations tonight, the miracles of people turning to you. And I thank you for keeping them in Jesus' name, amen. If you did that, text in the word decided to 51,000, just the word decided, 51,000, somebody from Times Square Church.