Isaiah 59:14  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15  Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
16  And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
17  For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloke.

Yesterday there was a second assassination attempt against former president Donald Trump. They have captured the gunman and supposedly an investigation has been started. Mr. Trump is not a Christian man. He did bring in some good changes during his first term in office. He did not follow the standard established pattern that the U.S. government is operating under. Shooting him is not the answer for those who do not like him or his plans. It should concern people that the Democrats have wasted millions and millions of dollars during Mr. Trump’s first term trying to stop him from being able to govern. It should also concern people that in the first attempt to kill him, the gunman was allowed to be on the roof of a building close enough to shoot successfully at him. There is a reason why the U.S. government has kept the assassination of JFK secret for so many years. We do not need to be conspiracy theory people. We just need to look at what is happening.
When I was a young person, I worked for my neighbour. He was a good farmer. He preferred to work with horses. He would harness a horse and hook it up to a cultivator and cultivate between the rows of corn. To keep the horse working without being spooked by the corn leaves or in stopping to eat corn, he had blinders on the bridle used for the horse. Those blinders kept the horse from seeing things going on beside him. There are many people who have been trained to act as though they have blinders on. They ignore all the facts that are needed to build a proper case. Truth is not allowed.
The current government of the U.S. is one of the most corrupt governments in the history of the U.S. The U.S. has come to a point of no return. It is just a matter of time before that country collapses. Canada is not any better off. It is high time that people wake up and realize the danger we are facing. The rejection of God is a serious decision. Rejecting God means that those who do so are asking God to remove His hand from world affairs and allow short-sighted people to choose the course of actions. God is giving man quite a lot of rope right now. However, He is still in control of the rope. He will not allow man to destroy this world. He will keep things going until He will destroy it by fire.
Depraved people do not have the ability to make wise choices.
In our text God directed Isaiah to speak of the spiritual condition of Israel at his time. Things have not changed much in Israel, and by application the Gentile world is also in dire straits. When we look at the way the courts are handling those they have charged in the Wuhan virus debacle when “science falsely so called” was used to fine people and to freeze bank accounts and declare a national emergency, etc. we can certainly see that judgment is turned away backward. When we contrast that with the corruption that is emanating from the current government in an unchecked manner, we can see that judgment is turned away backward. Justice truly is standing afar off. What is happening now is not very different from what was in place while Jesus was on this earth and what the apostles faced in their time. The government of that time was the Roman government. We can also look at the government at the time of Hitler and we can see similarities to our government. We can also look at China and Venezuela and see that we are not far from what those governments do. We can still keep our churches open and we can still speak the truth, but we know the government experimented with shutting this down during the Wuhan virus stunt. The opposition parties did nothing to counter what the ruling party imposed upon us. They are all the same.
Isaiah was directed to speak and write during a very dark time in Israel. The darkness was the result of the rejection of the true God. That darkness still hangs over Israel today. It will soon be one year since the October 7 attack. That attack took place in large part due to a raucous party that was held in southern Israel. There were reports given at that time that there was an idol of Buddha at that party. Can we really expect God to bless such blatant defiance of Him?
I do not defend Hamas for a moment. I do not defend Iran nor any of their proxies. God will judge them. When we read the Bible, we see that God brought the Assyrians, a Godless people to invade and defeat the northern ten tribes of Israel. He brought the Babylonians into Judah to invade and defeat the south. Many Jews were killed in those invasions. Jews were taken captive. Israel lost their protected place in the land that God had given them to be stewards of. They despised Him and He withdrew His protection from them and they have been suffering ever since. They are back in their land because God is fulfilling prophecy that we read of in Ezekiel 37. They will not be removed from that land anymore. They will still suffer more because they are still in rebellion against the true God.
It is very evident that God has His hand on that land and on the Jewish people. He is leaving them vulnerable but He will not allow them to be destroyed. His desire is still for Jews to be saved. He also wants Gentiles to be saved. Those who are truly saved need to continue to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, but we dare not whitewash the sins of that nation. It is loving to speak the truth and to remind both Jews and Gentiles of the importance of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
That truth was not being heeded in the day of Isaiah. It was not heeded in the time of Christ. It is not heeded today in Israel, nor in the Gentile nations. By God’s mercy and grace there are saved Jews and Gentiles today. One thing we should be thankful for is that Mr. Trump does support the nation of Israel. That cannot be said of the current U.S. administration nor of the current Canadian administration.
We can look at the current run-up to the bi-election in Montreal. The NDP candidate in that riding has a pamphlet that he is giving out with a terrorist flag on the front page of that pamphlet. The NDP is defending that act. That speaks volumes of where that party is at and also where the current governing party is at. Such actions should be condemned. People want free speech but only when it suits them.
Those who are saved gain nothing by keeping quiet when the truth needs to be told. We help people when we deal with reality. When we point out sin and provide the only solution for the sin, that is the way to help. That is the way to show true love.
Jesus exposed the false religions of His time. He allowed the false teachers to tempt Him. He also showed those around Him, that they were false teachers. He gave the people the opportunity to know the truth and see the lies. Sadly, most chose to continue to follow the lies then, and that is still a major problem today. Jesus did not go into hiding. Prior to His ascension He commanded His followers to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. We are still told to tell people the truth. People need to know the necessity of true salvation and in so doing we also need to expose the lies that are permeating our society.
We have the truth. We know that our secular system is not interested in truth. They have their own version of truth. It is up to those who are saved to study the Word of God and to speak the truth even if it is not popular. We need to have the same love for people today that Jesus had while He was on this earth and that God has had since the beginning. The truth has never been embraced by the majority of people, however it is the truth that makes a person free.
Pastor Bartel