Crises in the Land

I have a very solemn message to bring before us this evening, friends, and before I bring it I want to quote the Puritan John Owen. When I was in London, I went to Bunhill Fields and I stood at John Owen's tomb, and I felt a very solemn feeling in my heart as I realized how God had used this man so mightily in his generation and the future generations to come, but I want to read you what he had to say about the people of God who turned their backs on God. John Owen said, When a sinful church or people have passed the utmost bounds of divine patience and forbearance, they fall into such abominable crimes, sins, and provocations as shall render the utmost vengeance beneath their desserts.

So Josephus affirms of this generation, after they had rejected and slain the Lord Christ, that they fell into such a hell of provoking abominations, that if the Romans had not come and destroyed them, God would have sent fire and brimstone upon them from heaven as he did on Sodom. The title of my message this evening, friends, is Crisis in the Land, and my text can be found in the book of Jeremiah. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends.

We will be in chapter 6 and verse 11. Let me read that to us at this time, and may the Spirit of the Lord be pleased to attend the reading of his holy word. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in, I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together, for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him, that is full of days.

That's a solemn warning, friends. When a nation turns its back on God and refuses to heed divine correction through the remedial judgments of God, then that nation must face the rejection of God. This occurred with the Israelites in the days of the prophet Jeremiah.

Israel was enjoying a period of peace and material prosperity, but rather giving God the glory through thankful and humble lives in submission to his commandments. They rebelled against the Most High and lived both selfishly and sinfully. The favored people of God eventually moved so far away from the heart of God that their lives reflected as much evil as the pagan nations surrounding them.

Actually, their sin was far worse than the pagan nations, for they had sinned against favor and light. Therefore their punishment would be far more grievous for their aggravated sins and transgressions against the Holy God. Through repeated remedial judgments God chastised his wayward and rebellious people, but they failed to learn the lesson and repented their wicked ways and returned to their God.

However, although the patience of the Almighty is tried by his backslidden people, he continued to call them back into a loving relationship with him. We see this from the following. Let me read this descriptive passage to you at this time.

Surely, as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord. A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping and supplications of the children of Israel, for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their God. Return, ye backslidden children, and I will heal your backslidings.

Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord our God. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto me. If thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove, and thou shalt swear.

The Lord liveth in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness, and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

Lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings. Listen, friends. Because the people of God had failed to interpret the divine chastisements that issued forth from the hand of a loving Father, with the purpose to correct the wayward and backslidden Jews, then the consequences of their sin would follow them.

They would be faced with a spiritual vacuum, as the divine favor was lifted from them. No longer would God defeat their enemies, but rather God would allow the enemies of Israel to become the instruments of divine chastisement, because the people of God would not return unto him through repeated warnings and beckoning they would suffer divine judgment and retribution for their sins of spiritual adultery. America is a nation once favored of God, which has turned its back on the Almighty.

When a morally ill society fails to heed the admonishments from the Almighty, which come through, remedial judgments, of which unheeded, become more severe with each testing, then that nation must do one thing, and that is this, friends. I'll quote Amos 4.12. Prepare to meet thy God. God has chastised America through natural calamities, floods, and fires, and droughts, and tornadoes, and hurricanes, and earthquakes, and violence in our streets, attacks from our enemies, but to no avail.

But the larger and more grievous sin is that the church has failed to recognize the hand of God, and call the people of God to times of fasting, prayer, and repentance. The sad fact is, friends, that the pulpits of America at large have failed to heed the warnings as well. It is as if God has said, fine, you're not willing to spread my gospel around the world by living sacrificially unto me.

Rather you build unto yourselves in times of prosperity. Therefore, what you've not done in times of plenty, you will now be tested to do in times of want and persecution. Listen, friends, persecution is going to be hot and quick on the church in America.

When the leadership, the priests of the Lord, fail to lead the people back to God through a call of solemn assembly, prayer, fasting, and repentance, then the nation itself grows more evil and wicked for the lack of light. Crime increases. Violence increases.

Morality hits all-time lows, as if an open sewer of filth is let out on a nation to overflow and contaminate it. There's a huge failure of Christian leadership in our communities. Therefore, our communities grow more wicked each day.

Listen, friends, whenever there's a vacuum, it's filled with either light or darkness. The church has failed to lead the nation back to God, and the saddest aspect at times of spiritual declension is this. The church herself cannot return to God.

It's become like Israel, backslidden and away from the very heart of the Almighty. When God judged the pagan nations which surrounded Israel and Judah, he judged them with a lesser judgment than the people of God who had enjoyed his favor and his blessings. When the church in America fails to acknowledge God through lies of holiness and obedience to his written word, then the people of God must face the divine judgment of God.

This comes in two ways. Withdrawal of his presence and chastisement from him. When restraints on evil are lifted from society, then wickedness flourishes unchecked and uncontrolled.

Just pick up a newspaper. You doubt what I'm saying. A nation away from God, in its laws and behavior, will perish like other nations before them.

Look at ancient Rome. Look at ancient Greece. They crumbled into ruins in times of spiritual and moral declension.

The church becomes worldly and enacts new laws and redefines sin. No longer are grievous sins an abomination, but a civil right. Christians in the West today feel they have certain rights and privileges, and many are the heir to God in their own minds.

This is a false security, for the people of Israel felt that they too would always have divine favor upon them because of their position to him. However, they discovered too late that their position to him was tied not to past traditions and previous blessings, but to their present actions and current relationship to him. If the church in the West fails to heed the remedial judgments of divine displeasure, and does not return to God in repentance, humility, and prayer, then all that remains is divine rejection.

God will pass over this nation. Many churches and entire denominations will have their candles extinguished, as did the seven churches of the book of Revelation, because they refused to repent. Listen friends, God is no respecter of persons.

No nation is immune from his wrath. To rest in the false security of government, wealth, and a strong military is a sign of a backslidden nation. Only God himself can protect a nation from complete ruin.

When will America return to God and cry out to him to come and heal our land? Will it take nuclear annihilation to get our attention? Will a great famine have to starve our families off the face of the earth before we listen? Will a great plague or natural disaster of epic proportions have to come upon us for us to repent, to turn us back to God, and to grip our hearts with a God consciousness once again? There is a crisis in the land. Who will listen? Who will turn? Who will repent? And who will pray? God's eyes is upon his church. Let us pray.