Psalm 127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
A couple of events have taken place over the past couple of days that are a continuing warning of where we are at in our world.
The first event is the proactive attacks by Israel against Iran. Iran has been in a provocative state for a number of years. Their goal is the destruction of Israel and the West. Iran is an openly anti-God nation. It is a clear testimony of what Islam is.
President Regan understood some of what was going on there and was able to bring home a large number of hostages shortly after he became president. President Carter was incapable of dealing with the situation in Iran near the close of his presidency.
The Bible warns that Iran, which is Biblical Persia, will be involved in a future invasion against Israel. They are a powerful nation. They have a large stock pile of weapons and they are also quite wealthy.
Israel has been able to weaken them a little at this present time. They intend on causing more damage to the weapons in Iran. Iran, on the other hand, is attacking residential areas in Israel. They want to try to weaken the support for the government of Israel. Left leaning people will only tolerate so much good. Left leaning people hate truth and they are intent on destroying as much good as they can. It is a warped mentality that they operate under. We see that mentality in the “father of lies”, the devil. He intentionally deceived Eve into believing a lie about God. He was also able to convince Adam to accept the deception that Eve had succumbed to. Adam was held accountable for his deliberate disobedience to God’s clear command to him.
In Genesis 4 we read that Cain chose to develop a humanistic form of religion. He deliberately defied God and tried to bring a bloodless sacrifice before Him. God rejected that offering and also taught Cain what was wrong with what he was doing. Cain rejected all the wise counsel of God and murdered his brother, Abel. Killing his brother did not solve anything. When God lovingly confronted Cain with his further sin, Cain accused God of being too hard on him.
Cain sets the pattern for left leaning thought. God’s justice is always right. According to humanistic thinking, it is quite severe. The Bible helps us to understand the destructive nature of sin, if we will submit to God’s authority. We all need to have our eyes opened to truth and we need to be able to see things from God’s perspective. Unless a person is born again, they will not see the justice of God in the right light. God is THE God of love.
God is giving Israel some success in limiting the evil intent of Iran. Iran is just one of many nations whose goal is the destruction of Israel and of Christianity. The two are not synonymous but in Iran’s mind they both need to be destroyed. Iran and her many proxies are fighting a losing battle. Israel will never be destroyed and true Christianity will never be destroyed.
The Bible warns us that there is a time coming when evil will be more prominent upon this earth than it currently is. That time will be at the start of the Tribulation time. All the New Testament Christians will be removed from this earth in a moment of time. The antichrist will be introduced to the world, and the world of that time will embrace him. He will come in with massive deception and will gain the support of the world.
As the antichrist is building his system, God will also be intervening and giving the wicked world of that time, the truth. God will raise up one hundred and forty four thousand virgin Jewish men to proclaim the truth in the midst of the massive deception of the antichrist. The majority of mankind will believe the lies of the antichrist. Our world is being prepared for that time right now. Far more people are willing to believe lies, than truth now. This is true not just in the realm of what is known as Christendom. It is also true in the realm of politics. Canada has a Liberal, leftist government in place. This is supposedly the result of the democratic system of government. Evidence is coming out that we actually do not have a democratically elected government, but that has not stopped this corrupt government from remaining in a position of control. Canada is suffering the consequences of the rejection of God. The majority of religious activity in this country is anti-God. There is much talk of “Jesus” but not the Jesus of the Bible.
Looking closer to home, there was the tragic murder of two people in Minnesota and the wounding of two others, over the past two days. There are many murders and shootings taking place. These incidents have taken up air-time because they are politically motivated. The shooter was associated with the governor of the state of Minnesota. That is not to say that the governor backed the shootings, but the left-leaning philosophies which are also anti-God thinking are behind the killings. The media tried to pin these shootings on “right wing” thinking, but it is motivated by an anti-Trump lunatic. He has been caught, but there are many others with a similar philosophy as his. This man is a clear picture of the result of an anti-God philosophy.
President Trump is not a man of God. He is a wicked man who is very self-centred. In spite of who he is, God has put him in his current position and he has done some good things. God is still not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. God has chosen to put Mr. Trump in his current position to allow for more people, including Mr. Trump, the opportunity to repent and be saved.
We are all born as lost sinners. We are all capable of much evil. Cain shows us that. The longer a person stews in his sinful state, the more he/she develops a wrong philosophy of life. Jeremiah was directed to warn:
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
As we look at life, it is important to allow God to open our eyes to reality. It is important to turn to God and be forgiven and saved. Without God’s salvation our eyes will not be opened to the reality of life. Without a right foundation nothing will stand. As we watch our world continue to decay, it is important to be sure that we are truly saved and building our lives upon the Truth. God does not want us to go through life fearful. He does not want us to have our heads in the sand and look for a diversion. We need to deal with reality. We can do that if we trust in the true God.
Pastor Bartel
