BIBLE MEDITATION:
Luke 23:18-20; “But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
The same people that were calling out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” where the same ones that one week later were crying out, “Crucify him!
We read this fact in the following Bible verse,
Matthew 21:9; “Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: “Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!”
The crowds that were saying, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord' were all persuaded by the Pharisees that Jesus was a false prophet. This is very symbolic of America since the days of our founding. America was founded on Biblical principles, where it was very politically correct to belong to, and attend a church every Sunday. For quite some time it remained that way. We were those that were shouting out ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” We were worshipping and praising God every Sunday, or Saturday, depending on whichever day you chose. But in the last few years, America has taken a very dangerous turn toward what the Bible said would happen in the last days.
Let me share a couple of verses as to what I am referring to.
Isaiah, 5:20-21; “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!”
2 Timothy, 4:3; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,”
Friends, we have crossed the threshold of insanity and we are now living in the days in which these verses are speaking of. Like I mentioned a few minutes ago, we were the ones calling out ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ and now we are crying out “Crucify him!
2 Timothy 3:1-5; “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”
Friends, we are there and if you do not see this, then you have been blinded by the god of this world.
The next verse that I am going to read is in reference to those who are perishing. They will perish because they have rejected the truth of the Gospel, and therefore, our God, the creator of all things, has allowed the god of this world (Satan) to blind and deceive them.
We read this truth in, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4; “If the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”
So, if you have a hard time understanding the Bible, then this verse is talking to you. If you have not turned to Jesus Christ for your salvation, the truth of the Bible will be like explaining a rainbow to a blind man, it is impossible. Ever since the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden, God has given the world over to Satan because man chose evil over good. Once again, God will not invade our sovereignty, He will give us over to what we choose.
I can certainly relate to this claim. When I tried to read the Bible before I was Born-Again, nothing really made sence, but when I gave my life over to Jesus Christ and received the Holy Spirit into my heart, it was then that the Bible became very clear to me. Now after reading and studying the Bible for about thirty years, I feel I have a vey good understanding of Gods Word and how it was meant to be understood. When I try to witness to others about the scriptures of the Bible, most will argue with me even though they have never read the Bible or given their lives over to Jesus Christ. Many people are indoctrinated into the denomination that they grew up in, which in many cases, is not supported by the scriptures of the Bible. The only way for you to know for sure, is to accept Jesus Christ into your heart, and believe what He did for you on the cross, and then become Born-Again into the Holy Spirit. Then, and only then will you understand the truth of the Bible. Until then, you are trusting in someone else for your salvation. Not a good idea, considering eternity is forever.
Now, let me get back to the purpose of this message. When America was founded back on July 4th, 1776, it was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Those that were living in other countries prior to moving to America, came to America to escape oppression and to live in safety and freedom. July 4, 1776, marked the beginning of an ongoing journey toward life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. God had established America for His purpose. Christianity was thriving. Family values were at the highest levels imaginable. It remained this way for quite a few years, until the sixties when Christian values started to fade away like a fog in the midst. It started out slowly, but as of the last couple decades it has been on a downward spiral at an alarming pace. It all started when The Supreme Court took God and prayer out of our schools. On June 25, 1962, the United States Supreme Court decided in Engel vs. Vitale that a prayer approved by the New York Board of Regents for use in schools violated the First Amendment by constituting an establishment of religion. Here is something for you to think about. America won every war that we were dragged into, even when the odds were heavily against us. Ask yourself this question, what was the first war that we did not win. Does Viet Nam ring a bell? Actually I heard it said, We didn’t lose the war, we abandoned it. But whatever the case may be, it’s no coincidence that we lost our first war right after we slapped God in the face by removing prayer and the Bible from classrooms. It can’t be denied. Big, Big mistake. That was the beginning of the end for America. God’s hedge of protection was still over us to a point, but the more we kept pushing Him out of society, the less protection we had.
Then in 1973 we crossed another bridge of insanity by legalizing abortion. That I believe is when I saw the decline of America moving at a rapid pace toward the destruction of what was once the greatest nation ever. I was in my teens and early adult years during the seventies. I didn’t know it then, but now when I look back at how I lived my lifestyle, I realize that I was guilty of all that I know to be wrong now. Without getting into my earlier years, I have to say, I wasn’t a bad guy in terms of how I treated people, but in Gods eyes, I was living a lifestyle that was evil and I was on a one way trip to hell. I thought I was having fun, and I was in terms of the flesh, but as the years went by, I could feel the tugging of the Holy Spirit in my heart. I didn’t know it then, but now I know that God had a plan for me from the start. It took me a long time to truly understand what was happening to me, but I just thank God for the patience that He had with me. He could have left me to continue in my current lifestyle where I would have certainly ended up in “The Lake of Burning Fire,” but His love for me never ended and it is still increasing daily as I continue to serve the Lord. So, like everybody else, I was following the crowd. I wanted to be liked and respected. And for the most part, I felt I was. But over the years as I grew up, I started moving away from the crowds that kept me from doing what God had called me to do, and eventually I lost all those friendships that I had early in life.
I gave you a little bit of history about me, so you know that I am as guilty as anyone when it came to living an unacceptable lifestyle. I thought I was religious, but I knew nothing about Salvation.
Now, once again, because I have a tendency of getting off track, lets to get back to the purpose of this message.
America, as well as the rest of the world is in a huge decline spiritually. This has been happening for quite some time, but never like it is now. It seems that every new movie that comes out of Hollywood is targeting Christianity. Not only have we fallen away from our Biblical roots, but we have also turned to blatantly destroying everything Holy that God stands for. My friends, this is not a mistake, this has been in the works for many decades and now it is all coming to fruition. We have allowed evil to enter our country on every front. Those that are running our country actually hate America and are bent on creating a "One World System" that will eventually take away every freedom that we have enjoyed and are still enjoying to a certain point. If this angers you, it should, but if you don’t believe what I just said, you will finely figure it out when it is too late.
Many good Bible scholars that have studied the Bible and Bible prophecy for the last fifty years or so, all agree, America has fallen way beyond repair, however, all is not lost, God can turn things around in a miraculous way, as He has done throughout history. This brings me to a Bible verse that we should all turn too, it is our only hope.
2 Chronicles 7:14; “if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
This Bible verse was originally meant for the Jews, but I believe it is also speaking to those that are called by Gods name today. I believe that many Christians are on their knees praying for sanity to once again come upon our nation, but I fear, not all are getting on their knees. I can tell you this though, God will not judge the righteous with the wicked. So, I believe that we are on the verge of something big coming in the very near future. How it will play out, I don’t know. I have a few scenarios on what could happen, but because I’m not sure, I’ll keep then to myself for lack of argument.
Here is a Bible verse that still gives me reason to believe we might see a small revival.
1 Thessalonians 5:3; “For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”
Even though we are not living in peace and safety as it may seem to some people, the world leaders are talking about peace. If that peace comes, I believe it will be very short lived. It will be just enough to get people to believe the big lie that is coming.
2 Thessalonians 2:9-12; “The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
I truly believe that this verse is describing an event that is on the very near horizon. I believe this because of all the evil that is going on behind the scenes that most people are not aware of. All the signs are there, you just have to be watching as we are told to do in the following Bible verse. Luke tells us in:
Luke 21:35-36; “For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 tells us this, “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people”.
These are the signs among many more that we are told to watch out for. You may say, these signs have always been around, and I won’t disagree, but has it never been this bad. (disobedient to their parents) (lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God) These two are at an all-time high. I have never seen so much disrespect toward adults from the younger generations as I am seeing today. The problem is this, all the sources of social media along with television are promoting this kind of behavior. In case you are not aware of it, the government wants total control of our children, and you can see that coming. You as a parent are not able to discipline your children. Teachers have no control over students that continuously have bad behavior. In other words, children can pretty much say and do whatever they want without consequences.
Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Need I expand on this. I shouldn’t have to, but I will. Every source of entertainment, whether it be television, movies or any other kind of recreation that is available to us today, is focussed on eliminating God from our country from every source imaginable. There are very few respectable TV programs that do not slander the name of God. Whether you know this or not, most of the TV evangelist are teaching false doctrine.
Once again, 2 Timothy, 4:3; “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,”
This evil is much larger than we know, but once again, unless you read the Bible for yourself, you will not know the truth. I could name some names of those who are guilty of this, but I'll let you do your own research on who is telling the truth and who is deceiving you with false doctrine.
It’s an evil world, and the time is coming for God to make a move. Like I said before, all the signs that God told us to watch for are all converging at once. So, let me ask you this question again,
Are you following the Crowd or are you following Jesus Christ? The Bible says very few will be that find the way. Few means a few.
Matthew 7:13-14; “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Are you traveling the narrow gate that lead to everlasting life, or are you on the broad path that is leading to destruction? It’s your choice, nobody can make that for you. When you stand before Jesus Christ, the only thing that will matter is this, what path did you choose? The path that leads to everlasting life goes through Jesus Christ and no other.
John 14:6; “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Do you believe this or not!
Let me conclude with this, May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
May God bless you in all you do and take care!
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