Gtcotr/ss041424
I believe the Bible is not only God’s personal Word to each and every individual, but it is also a collective Word to nations and generations. God has a calendar and a clock. He knows both the day and the hour when He will send Jesus to collect His bride and judge the evil of this world.
Nations are in turmoil and our world is in trouble. I know people have been saying this for a long time but the times we are living in happen to be the only times we have. The one life we have been given can only be lived during our lifetime. And right now, during my lifetime, things have gotten pretty bad … bad enough to be at prophetic proportions.
Last evening Iran launched what the news media termed as “Swarms of drones” aimed at attacking Israel. Among them were ballistic and cruise missiles which have precision guidance. The missiles took 4 hours to make the flight across Jordanian airspace while Israel prepared and watched them getting closer by the minute. I texted with my friends in Israel who, while they waited, responded: “It is going to be a long night.”
I have never been a preacher of doom and destruction. The message God sent me to preach is a message of mercy and hope. The Spirit of God has not given me a judgmental or critical heart and although sad and bad things have happened to me, life for me has always been about the future. But if some things don’t change, the future is looking worse.
Nonetheless, I still have hope because I believe the Bible. The Bible says that Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Living in a world filled with wickedness, Noah showed us the heart of God. He just wanted people to get right with God so they too could be saved. And God gave Noah more than 120 years to try and get others to repent and live right.
The Scriptures also show us that Jonah always believed that God was going to forgive the people of Nineveh, even though Jonah was against it. Yet, Jonah’s message of repentance was a message of hope and grace. He told them all that they still had time … 40 days in fact, in which to repent. The people of Nineveh repented,and God forgave them and saved them.
Even Lot who lived among the ungodliness of Sodom and Gomorrah was given time to go and try to rescue his family and the friends he cared for. He begged them to come with him, but sadly they refused.
Time would fail me to tell you all the stories in the Bible about people, like the woman who was brought to Jesus in John 8, who deserved judgment but received mercy. The message God gave me is true and powerful:As long as there is time, there is hope.
Romans 3:23 All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 10:13 Whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
This is a personal message for each individual and a collective message for this generation and for the nation.
Preaching “Get right with God” is not a political message. Stop lying, stop cheating, stop trying to destroy each other, stop the name calling, stop speaking evil of others, stop killing the innocent, repent and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior is still a message of hope and grace.
Allow me to share the top 3 greatest suggestions you will ever hear. Follow them the best you can, and you will become a part of the answer instead of being a part of the problem. This will work for you and for every individual, and all nations in every generation.
Allow me to be a prophet of God this morning as I repeat His Word.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?
Matthew 7:12 “Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
James 2:13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
John 3:17 God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.
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 morning I want to challenge you with the simple message of mercy and grace … do your part and “Get right with God!”
A nation and a generation will never be better than the individuals who make up that nation and generation. We can say we are a world in trouble but unless we do our part, we are at best just letting things happen.
Either we get right with God and move the hand of His mercy, or we face His judgment. I vote mercy …
Have you been born again? Are you right with God? If not, why not and why not right now? Let’s pray.
