Isaiah 48:22 There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.
Isaiah 57:21 There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
I Thessalonians 5:3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
Yesterday I saw a news report from Parliament Hill that was a surprise. Our tax dollars are being used to promote Buddhism. Buddhism is a cult. It is a false religion. They have the freedom to believe their lies, but that is what they are.
They were allowed to speak from Parliament Hill and are suggesting that the month of May should be used to recognize Buddhism as a valuable part of Canadian society. Buddhism is a false religion that is part of the many false religions that are destroying this country. A Buddhist does not know what peace is.
Our country supposedly prides itself in being a country that separates church and state. The reality is that our country is a country that promotes false religions, but does not want the Truth proclaimed. The state wants to control religion. The state has set itself up as the god of this nation. That philosophy has led to the extreme poverty we are seeing in this country. We have the rich sitting in their ivory tower in Ottawa. They meet for a few months of the year and act like spoiled little children in front of the cameras. They lie to each other and occasionally show disdain for one another.
The problems facing this country now are not that different from the problems facing other countries in the past.
In the verses at the top of this devotional, we see that God addressed the wicked in the past. Isaiah was a God-appointed prophet in Israel. He was directed by God to give wise counsel to the king and to the people. The king and the people rejected that wise counsel and the result was that they could not find peace with the neighbouring countries, nor within their own boundaries.
After the death of king Solomon God tore the nation of Israel into two parts. He made Jeroboam the king of the north (Israel) and gave him ten tribes. He made Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the king of the south (Judah) and gave him two tribes. Rehoboam thought he could use force to get the north back in line, but God sent a prophet to him to tell him not to fight against the north because the rupture was of God. Earlier, king Rehoboam had sent his tax collector into the north to collect the taxes and the people killed him.
The conflict between the north and the south continued on until God finally sent the Assyrians into the north to invade and conquer them. He sent the Babylonians into the south to invade and conquer them. Israel lay waste for seventy years. After that God moved in the heart of the king of Persia — Cyrus, to pass a decree allowing the Jews to go back to Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.
Israel never gained their former glory which they had in the days of king David and Solomon. The cost of rebellion is very high. As God said through Isaiah, there is no peace unto the wicked. The world does not understand what peace is.
Buddhism is supposed to be a religion that promotes peace. Islam also claims to be a religion of peace. We know just how peaceful they are. Buddhists are not interested in the truth. They do not want to hear the truth. They want to promote their lies. The only way they perceive peace is if the truth is shut down.
In the last verse we have in our opening text, the apostle Paul was directed to write of a time yet future to our time. We know the world is looking for peace right now.
Mr. Trump thinks he is God’s gift to man and that he is the best peace negotiator the world has ever known. He is far from that. He is twice divorced and married three times. Who knows how many “flings” he has had along the way. His way of peace is no different than that of the Buddhist. It is through compromise and through lies.
God is very patient and merciful to mankind. He is giving man the opportunity to consider the importance of knowing the truth. God is TRUTH. Jesus Christ declared:
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
This message is just as important today as it was when Jesus declared it. I am not demanding the opportunity to go to Parliament Hill to proclaim that message. I will declare the Truth through our church. People have the opportunity to choose if they will come and listen to the truth or not. Many are telling us they are not interested in the truth. That is a very bad choice to make. Soon they will join the thousands who have made the wrong choice and they will discover just how bad a choice that was to make, when their lives come to an end and they are in hell, awaiting the final resurrection when they will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the great white throne judgment. There Jesus will open the books and show each lost person why they are at that throne and He will pronounce His judgment upon each one. There will be no lawyers there to plead for those standing there. There will be no jury to decide what the verdict should be. Jesus Christ will give His sentence, and each person who is standing at that judgment throne will be cast into the lake of fire.
The Bible tells us there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in that place for all eternity. We do not set the standard of who will end up there. God has already declared who will be there. He has given us His inspired and preserved Word. We can know the truth. Spin doctors will not help you.
John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
The Jews in that text did not like what Jesus was teaching them. They protested against what He said. They assumed their physical heritage was good enough to give them freedom. They did not even want to admit they were in bondage.
Most religious people today, whether Jew or Gentile, do not want to admit they are in bondage. They think because they can go and subject themselves to false teachers who will scratch their itching ears, and they feel good about that, that they are free.
Every person can choose what they will believe. However, each person also needs to understand there are consequences to the choices made. Jesus said: “the truth shall make you free”.
Don’t follow the lies of the Buddhist or the Catholic or the Muslim or the many other false religions. The Holy Spirit will direct you to the truth if you will let Him. When you submit to the Truth, devotionals like this one will not be offensive to you. You will appreciate those who are willing to help you see the truth.
Pastor Bartel