Ezek 7:1-9:11 | PS 105:1-15 | Prov 26:28 | Heb 5:1-14
When it comes to the evil that sweeps through our nation, we, even Christians, tend to focus on that which is less and miss that which is more. Perhaps, it is too difficult to take in just how bad we have become. There was an uproar over the Super Bowl half-time celebration, last year performed by Bad Bunny. I don't know his music, but for everything that I hear, he is a very poor representative to have been bestowed this honor. Yet, the truth is the Super Bowl is the number one day on the calendar for sex slave activity. Women are literally carted in by the truckload into the hotels, etc. This should make us drop to our knees and seek forgiveness for our nation. Many grapple with what to do with Halloween, whether to allow their kids to dress up, celebrate, exchange candy, etc. But much more devious than this , Anton LaVey, the founder of the church of Satan, said, "It makes me so happy to see that Christians are allowing their children to celebrate the devil one night of the year." This is the highest day on the Satanic calendar which results in the highest number of human and animal sacrifices. Halloween originated from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which had historical accounts of human sacrifice. This reality should make any shudder if one considers what is happening in the underbelly, below the eyes of detection. States are now tripping over one another to pass laws allowing for abortion up to one's due date. Do you not see the horror in this, especially being that every life is sacred, and many of the lives taken would survive if simply allowed to be born rather than slaughtered in the womb. Do you not see the problem with our society when we have a marijuana dispensary on seemingly every street corner. One last thought as we approach election day, once again, in which each Christian should vote biblically. This should be easy, in that most candidates will come down clearly when it comes to biblical issues. Realize that whether a candidate wins or loses, most elections come down to a close to 50:50 vote, which means that even the most evil of candidates are garnering significant amounts of votes. We need to wake up and get off the superficial and realize the depths of depravity we are immersed in..
As we read the prophets, we should see the sins which were called out and the judgments which came as a result, then reflect for a moment on whether or not our nation is guilty of the same. Do we arrogantly believe we are somehow better or less depraved? In Ezekiel 8, the prophet is given a tour of the various aspects of the godlessness infesting the people of Judah. This was practiced by the common people, the leaders, and the most "religious". Are we different here? Like then, the people thought that God could not see, but we read in Ezekiel 8:12, "Then the Lord said to me, “Son of man, have you seen what the leaders of Israel are doing with their idols in dark rooms? They are saying, ‘The Lord doesn’t see us; he has deserted our land!’”The Lord saw them, and He sees now what takes place in every shadowy area of our nation. In Ezekiel 7 God's judgment on the nation of Judah, in all of it's carnage is spelled out in advance. Does our nation deserve any less? In Ezekiel 9, we see a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ, as He designates a remnant who are dedicated to God, as we read 9:4, "and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”" This "mark" is the Hebrew letter "tav", which in the times when this was written was written in the form of a cross. We, if we are part of the remnant, must never justify, minimize, the rampant depravity of our society.
It is natural to want to fit in, to want to be liked and respected. But there is a reason that we, who have been marked, as above, who are called God's saints, His priests (1 Peter 2:9), should not and cannot fit in. At the end there will be goats and sheep (Matthew 25), with nothing in between. The sides are being drawn and decisions must be made. We cannot pretend that things can and will continue endlessly as they are. Evil will be judged, and we are immersed in evil. We cannot toy with evil, pretend that we don't notice the evil, etc. We need to read through the entirety of Scripture, rather than a book here, a chapter or verse there, for we need to understand that the God of the Bible is a God of action once He decides it is time to take action. We must either choose to be aligned with the world or God, for God cannot compromise with evil. So, please decide for yourself today where you stand. If you have not done so already, repent of your sins and accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Then go out in your mission field (and each of us have a mission field) and speak forth the only message of hope that exists, salvation in the name of Jesus Christ.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: