“I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’ And he said, ‘Go, and say to this people:
‘“Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’
And he said:
‘Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
and the LORD removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.’” , [1] [2]
Drag queen story hour for children, some as young as two and three years of age? Drag queens—men dressed as women and wearing revealing outfits, dancing seductively in front of children? And first- and second-graders brought to the event by their parents are encouraged to stuff money into skimpy tights worn by the dancers? Three-year-old children given puberty blockers because some “expert” decides that the child—some as young as two-years of age—wants to be a sex other than the sex they were at birth? Kindergartners indoctrinated into the proper use of pronouns? Street preachers are even arrested for reading the Bible quietly near a gay pride parade?
If somehow these actions were not horrific enough, anyone who speaks out to say such actions are evil are immediately labelled as “hateful” or “malicious.” Parents are censured for wanting to be informed of what their children are being taught, especially when the teaching is more of an indoctrination than it is education in basic knowledge.
It seems as if each day reveals a new and more horrific piece of information meant to shock the intellect of rational people. Recently, I read an article detailing the tragic fact that though libraries are hosting drag queen story hours that encourage the children to touch the fake breasts worn by the drag queens, libraries prohibit biblical story hours. [3] A Christian reading a faith-based book is a bridge too far in our modern Sodom. We can’t permit those pesky Christians to indoctrinate children into acting righteously and honourably! We must groom them from earliest childhood to be twisted.
Should visitors from another planet visit our world, they would surely conclude that ours is a civilisation that has gone utterly insane! It is almost impossible to watch a television drama or comedy without at least one character portrayed as a transexual or as an in-your-face homosexual. It is as though our culture is intent on desensitising viewers into to accept as mainstream what is at best decidedly fringe. One might suspect that there is a conspiracy to change our opinions.
It is easy to fall into a belief that evil has never been so blatant in any society as it is in our own. Many among the saints of God appear to be convinced that no society has ever been as degraded or as godless as our own contemporary society. I’m not minimising the wickedness of this day, nor am I attempting to formulate an apologia for the present moment in history, but even a casual perusal of history reveals that evil has often overwhelmed once prominent and powerful societies. The story of nations reveals that powerful nations, indeed, that entire cultures arose and were noted for the virtue they demonstrated. Then, as that nation, or as that culture prospered, the people grew soft and began to tolerate increasing levels of wickedness. At last, the wickedness, like leaven working throughout dough, thoroughly infiltrated the entire culture. The final days of that nation, or that culture, was characterised by degradation and evil. What we are witnessing in our present culture appears to be a tragic continuation of history. Perhaps this is the terminal generation, perhaps mankind’s end is at hand. Whether this is the case or not cannot be known. That we may be witnessing the last days of the American experiment, and the concomitant fall of the Dominion of Canada does seem plausible.
So, is this the final generation? I don’t know, and in one sense the question is moot. What I do know as one who is known by the Risen Saviour is that however godless the culture may be in which I now live, I am responsible to honour Him to Whom I am committed. I am an Ambassador of Christ, charged to proclaim His mercy to any who will receive Him as Master over life, warning all now living in the midst of the cesspool we call modern culture that they must prepare to meet the very God they wish to ignore. I know, and I am certain, that the Son of God has promised to return at an hour when no one expects Him. Therefore, I must guard my own heart so that whatever is taking place in society I will always be found watching for the return of the Saviour.
WHEN THE PROPHET WAS SENT — It was at a dark hour when Isaiah was sent to God’s people with a message of divine judgement. The impression gained from reading the Word is that Isaiah had been groomed to be a court official, likely a prophet appointed to serve in the court of the king. He had served in the days of Uzziah, one of the greatest kings of Judah. Then came that sad day when the king had died.
Uzziah had been a leper for ten years, and his son Jotham, had been seated on the throne. Jotham was co-regent with his father, but power had been stripped from Uzziah. He was struck with leprosy because he had acted arrogantly against the LORD, attempting to usurp the role of the priest. God does not take lightly the sin of presumption; He will not ignore arrogance. Uzziah learned this lesson in a hard way that ensured that his final years would be spent in humiliation and loss of stature. God doesn’t play games. Uzziah lived out his days in a separate house from the house he had known as king; and the final days were so dark for the king that he wasn’t even permitted to be buried in a tomb where his fathers were entombed. Uzziah was buried in a field that belonged to the kings.
The account of these events is recorded in the Chronicles of Israel, where we read, “When [Uzziah] was strong, he grew proud, to his destruction. For he was unfaithful to the LORD his God and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense. But Azariah the priest went in after him, with eighty priests of the LORD who were men of valor, and they withstood King Uzziah and said to him, ‘It is not for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the LORD, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated to burn incense. Go out of the sanctuary, for you have done wrong, and it will bring you no honor from the LORD God.’ Then Uzziah was angry. Now he had a censer in his hand to burn incense, and when he became angry with the priests, leprosy broke out on his forehead in the presence of the priests in the house of the LORD, by the altar of incense. And Azariah the chief priest and all the priests looked at him, and behold, he was leprous in his forehead! And they rushed him out quickly, and he himself hurried to go out, because the LORD had struck him. And King Uzziah was a leper to the day of his death, and being a leper lived in a separate house, for he was excluded from the house of the LORD. And Jotham his son was over the king’s household, governing the people of the land” [2 CHRONICLES 26:16-21].
Soon after Uzziah had died, Isaiah went into the Temple. The prophet was mourning the king’s death. The prophet writes about the awe-inspiring events that marked that one special day, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!’
And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for’” [ISAIAH 6:1-7].
Pretty dramatic, wouldn’t you say? How many of you have seen the LORD seated on His throne? How many of you have witnessed the seraphs attending the Living God? Has one of these awesome burning servants ever lifted a coal from the altar that is before the Lord GOD to touch your lips? An event such as that would never be forgotten.
Dramatic as was the vision and the interaction with the seraphs had been, it was the words of Him Who was seated on the throne that struck the prophet, cementing his understanding of the character of the LORD. The court prophet writes that he heard the voice of the LORD. He doesn’t actually describe what the voice sounded like, but what the voice said was abundantly clear to the prophet. Somehow, Isaiah knew that the voice he heard was the voice of the LORD, asking, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us” [ISAIAH 6:8b]? Without hesitation, Isaiah responded, “Here I am! Send me” [ISAIAH 6:8c]. The LORD had spoken, and the prophet could only present himself to fulfil God’s call.
Let me step aside from the message for a moment to observe that in a very real sense every preacher whom God calls has been appointed to preach prophetically. Those appointed to preach in the New Testament model are expected to be prophetic in the conduct of their service before the Lord. I am careful not to say that every preacher who is trained in a Bible college or blessed with a seminary education will understand this divine appointment; however, I am quite certain that every preacher of the Word that has been appointed by the Risen Son of God has received a charge to preach prophetically.
When I say that preachers are to preach prophetically, I don’t mean to imply that a preacher is to spend all his time in the pulpit speaking of eschatological themes. What I do mean is that each preacher of the Word must realise that his time of service is limited, and he must therefore faithfully declare the mind of the Living God to his generation. Each preacher who has received that divine appointment must be faithful to Him who alone appoints to that high and holy service.
The man of God receives the charge that Paul delivered to the Pastor of the congregation in Ephesus. You will recall that the Apostle wrote to Timothy, “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 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, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” [2 TIMOTHY 4:1-5].
Not every preacher will have a dynamic delivery or be capable of great, swelling oratory, but every God-called preacher must determine that he will preach the Word. Each minister who has received divine appointment must know the times in which he speaks, and he must confront the evil that stains the culture at that time. He must not hesitate to speak the truth in love, warning of the wrath to come even as he points to the grace of God that is extended to any who are willing to receive the Risen Lord as Master over life. Each man appointed to bring the message of life will understand that though methods may change, the message is timeless, unchanging; and he will faithfully study to ensure that he delivers that message to the generation in which he serves the Son of God.
Those who stand behind the sacred desk in this day are charged to confront those living at this time. I understand that the message we preach may be posted to a board with the multiplied sermons of others, or the message may be preserved for broadcast via radio, television, or as an embedded video allowing what has been prepared to be read by future generations, but the one declaring the Word of God must know that the first audience to whom he speaks is the generation that is now poised on the cusp of eternity.
Isaiah was sent to Israel at a time when some might have questioned why the LORD would need to send a bold prophet. Israel was at a peak of power and prosperity. Under Uzziah Judah had prospered. Enemies that threatened the nation were forced to rethink their plans. Other hostile nations were held in check by the nation’s might. Desert areas had been reclaimed through water conservation, Jerusalem’s walls had been reconstructed with towers and engines of war. The nation maintained a large standing army that kept multiple foes from invading or even attempting to agitate for unrest. The people were religious, adopting the outward trappings of worship of the Lord GOD.
Sending a prophet of God to speak to Judah was akin to sending a preacher to warn America of pending judgement. Warning Israel appeared as foolish as warning that Canada was facing the wrath of God. Surely such actions qualify as a fool’s errand. And yet, God did send Isaiah and Micah to Judah, and He sent Amos to Israel when these two nations were at the peak of power and prosperity.
For almost eighty years, Isaiah would prophesy in Judah, throughout the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah and into the reign of Manasseh this man of God would warn the nation not to turn away from serving God. Isaiah would repeatedly plead with the people to turn from pursuing their own desires and to walk in the way that the LORD would set before them. But even a cursory review of the history of the nation reveals that the people did not pay heed to this messenger of God.
ISAIAH’S DARK MESSAGE — God commanded His Prophet to warn the people,
‘“Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
Make the heart of this people dull,
and their ears heavy,
and blind their eyes;
lest they see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their hearts,
and turn and be healed.”
Then I said, ‘How long, O Lord?’
And he said:
‘Until cities lie waste
without inhabitant,
and houses without people,
and the land is a desolate waste,
and the LORD removes people far away,
and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
And though a tenth remain in it,
it will be burned again,
like a terebinth or an oak,
whose stump remains
when it is felled.”
The holy seed is its stump.’”
[ISAIAH 6:8-13]
As already mentioned, it would be reasonable to conclude that since Isaiah had functioned as a court prophet, a graduate of the approved seminary and enjoying the official seal of the court’s blessing, his would be a ministry that enjoyed the approval of the king and all who were associated with the king’s court. We have no way of knowing how long Isaiah had served when God confronted him. Nevertheless, it was during this time of paid service in the court of the king that his life was forever transformed.
God revealed Himself to the prophet. You should know that it is a dangerous thing to go to the House of the LORD if you want to be comfortable. God has a way of invading our safe space in order to turn our world upside down. Once we have had a vision of the LORD on His throne, things will never return to what they were before. Multitudes have come to the House of the Lord without a thought of serving Him, only to be startled out of their spiritual lassitude when they were confronted by the Spirit of God.
Augustine had no particular desire to become the premier theologian of the Faith among the early churches. However, hearing the voice of a child playing in the garden next door and singing out, “Tolle Lege, Tolle Lege,” which would be translated into English as “Take up and read, take up and read.” God used that child’s recitation to prompt the young man to take up the Word of God and to read in the Book of Romans, “Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” [ROMANS 13:13-14].
John Wesley was simply performing priestly duties, reading a commentary on the Book of Romans when he was convicted by the Spirit of Christ through the words he read. His life was forever changed. He would be turned away from the Church of England, harassed by his own wife, subjected to abuse and degradation by ruffians whenever he stood to preach, but he would ever after enjoy the smile of Heaven.
Spurgeon had no thought of preaching when he was compelled because of a snowstorm to turn aside to a little Primitive Methodist Church. His senses were assaulted by an uneducated preacher who pointed at him as he attempted to sit inconspicuously in the small congregation. As that uncouth preacher pointed him out, he shouted loudly, “Young man, you look very miserable. Look to the Lord!” Spurgeon’s testimony was that he was indeed miserable; and despite not wishing to do so, he did look to the Lord.
To come into the presence of God, whether deliberately entering into that place where the message of life is preached, or whether you seat yourself in the company of saints who are walking in the company of the Risen Saviour, or whether you read the Word of the Living God, is to expose yourself to the Lord. And when you are in the place where God can speak to your heart, He may just have a message for you.
That is such a powerful statement that Paul delivered to the Christians who worshipped in Corinth. In that first missive to the congregation, you will recall that the Apostle was giving instructions concerning spiritual gifts, especially drawing a contrast between those seeking what they imagined to be spectacular gifts, such as speaking in tongues, and more powerful gifts such as testimony, when he wrote, “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature… If all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you” [1 CORINTHIANS 14:20, 25].
Here is the thing that is essential to know if you should be appointed to declare the message of Christ—you don’t get to choose the message. He appoints; you obey. He is the Master; you are the servant. And as servant of the Risen Christ, you must fulfil the ministry He has given. And the message He appoints you to deliver will seldom be pleasant, for you must speak to your generation. Isaiah was told from the moment he was appointed to serve the Living God that those to whom he was sent would not listen.
The response of the nation to Jeremiah is not an exception to the response of those who heard Isaiah; rather, it is closer to the rule. Jeremiah received the call from the LORD telling him that God had appointed him from the womb. The young man protested, but God assured him that He knows what He was doing. The LORD addressed Jeremiah,
“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”
Then, the LORD did what He does with every preacher to this day; He put out His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth. With that, the LORD assured Jeremiah,
“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”
In the same way, God puts His words in the mouth of every God-called preacher to this day. Then follows an exchange that is essential for us to see. Jeremiah writes, “The word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘Jeremiah, what do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see an almond branch.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.’
“The word of the LORD came to me a second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.’ Then the LORD said to me, ‘Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the LORD, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands. But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you’” [JEREMIAH 1:7-19].
God was warning the young prophet that the service to which he was appointed would be demanding, but he could be assured that he would be well equipped to fulfil every expectation to which God now appointed him. In light of the accounts provided of the appointment of these prophets, my great fear for this generation and for this society is that we are now witnessing an exceptionally religious society, though it is a disobedient and rebellious society. Ours is not a churched society, but despite the listless, dispirited preaching that is characteristic of this day, people are prone to identify themselves as spiritual. Despite the disdain for the Faith, and despite the refusal to have anything to do with the Holy Bride of Christ, it is nevertheless amazingly common to hear people describe themselves as spiritual. Whatever that means to them, it does not include the capacity for heeding the Spirit of Christ. Thus, it would appear that this generation hears but doesn’t understand. It seems evident that this generation sees but doesn’t perceive.
With the generalised acceptance of wickedness as normal, or at least easily ignored, I must conclude that this current generation is afflicted with dull hearts, heavy ears, and blinded eyes. If this were otherwise, the people of this present generation would be capable of seeing with their eyes, hearing with their ears, understanding with their hearts, and they would turn and be healed. That the people not only do not turn to the Lord, but that they reject the reign of the Living God over their lives leaves me little choice but to conclude that it is too late for this society! God’s revelation to Isaiah of the conditions into which He was sent mirrors the conditions that prevail in our own society. And if it was too late for Israel in that day, then it is apparent that it is too late for the culture in which we now live.
THE PRESENT SITUATION — I began the message by citing some of the news items that are found in almost any news feed today. Other equally shocking news items could be added, each pointing to a steady slide into a moral morass for the United States and Canada. Christians might anticipate that making the Word of God available to people would be one means of changing hearts and minds. However, it is increasingly apparent that even making the Bible available to be read is antithetical to the woke mind.
A news item popped up on my news read one day in August of this past year. That news story detailed how a Texas school had removed a number of books from the school library as problematic. Among the books pulled were such disturbing books as Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye,” “Anne Frank’s Diary,” and the Bible. [4] These books had received a complaint that they were inappropriate in reaction to parental concerns expressed about other books that espoused homosexuality and depreciated whiteness. What is disturbing is not that someone complained about the Bible and about such powerful books as “The Diary of Anne Frank” or “The Bluest Eye,” what is disturbing is that school authorities would remove them without even considering the history either of the books or of those complaining. One might conclude that there now exists a conspiracy to deny the Bible to the people of this generation. In reality there is a conspiracy, a conspiracy directed by Satan. It is almost as if the words written by Amos so many centuries past are coming to pass in this day. Recall how Amos prophesied,
“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord GOD,
‘when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.
They shall wander from sea to sea,
and from north to east;
they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD,
but they shall not find it.’”
[AMOS 8:11-12]
Without the moral foundation provided by God’s own Word, social influencers and political powerhouses are prepared to dictate what is moral and what is immoral. Tragically, without the solid foundation provided by the Word of God the definition of what is moral is fluid, changing by the moment. Thus, to eat cheese is to be a murderer! [5] To disagree with those adopting antibiblical positions is violence. To fail to speak out on pet subjects of the day is violence. To use the wrong pronoun is violent. My goodness, who knew that gentle people could be so violent? And the moral arbiters of this day will use violence toward those who fail to meet the new and changing standards to compel compliance. If one is only cancelled, they are fortunate since all they lose is their voice!
Today, we are told it is cruel not to allow teachers to indoctrinate children as young as two and three to accept that they were born with the wrong body. Modern morality demands that people must remain silent when children as young as their early teens receive gender-affirming surgeries— hysterectomies, vaginoplasties, phalloplasties. [6] To dissent from these radical procedures is to position oneself as opposed to “science” and seeking to murder anyone who differs from the norm! Surely the world has gone insane. It must be that this is the result of society having lost its way morally. It is the natural result of having rejected the foundation of the Word of God.
Perhaps you will recall the words which Christ the Lord spoke when the disciples were asking about the timing of the coming of “The Kingdom of God.” The disciples were asking the question that has been asked by followers of the Christ since before His crucifixion and resurrection. When will this all end?
Jesus said in response to that question, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all—so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left” [LUKE 17:22-36].
Evil will continue until God says, “Enough!” People will move steadily toward normalising wickedness, until God says, “Enough!” Yes, there is a day known only to the Father when all will come to an end. This is the warning delivered by Peter when he wrote, “You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished. But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” [2 PETER 3:2-10].
Yes, there will be an end of all the wickedness in God’s own time. For us who follow the path of Christ the Lord, we are responsible to live righteous lives, rescuing as many as possible from God’s wrath. Peter continued by writing the words that we find in 2 PETER 3:11-18. “Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
“Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
This constitutes the sweeping overview of what is coming upon the earth. Moreover, it reminds us as servants of the Risen Saviour of the responsibility we bear because we follow the Righteous One. More immediately, should that day be delayed, we naturally wonder what will happen to our own culture? What of the society in which we live? Perhaps there is no more accurate depiction of our culture than that which Paul gives us in the opening verses of the Letter to the Christians of Rome. Paul wrote these words as he looked out on the society in which Corinth was situated, a society that reflected in great measure that of Rome itself. Listen to the dark words that are tragically familiar and prophetic of our own culture.
“God’s wrath is being revealed from heaven against all the ungodliness and wickedness of those who in their wickedness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God himself has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes—his eternal power and divine nature—have been understood and observed by what he made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. Instead, their thoughts turned to worthless things, and their senseless hearts were darkened. Though claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images that looked like mortal human beings, birds, four-footed animals, and reptiles.
“For this reason, God delivered them to sexual impurity as they followed the lusts of their hearts and dishonored their bodies with one another. They exchanged God’s truth for a lie and worshipped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
“For this reason, God delivered them to degrading passions as their females exchanged their natural sexual function for one that is unnatural. In the same way, their males also abandoned their natural sexual function toward females and burned with lust toward one another. Males committed indecent acts with males, and received within themselves the appropriate penalty for their perversion.
“Furthermore, because they did not think it worthwhile to keep knowing God fully, God delivered them to degraded minds to perform acts that should not be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, quarreling, deceit, and viciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, haughty, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to their parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God’s just requirement—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do these things but even applaud others who practice them” [ROMANS 1:18-32 ISV].
Yes, God does judge societies when they descend into wickedness. God may already be judging western society, surrendering us to our own desires. Though I cannot say definitively what comes next, I am confident that the Lord God is in control. And so long as we who are followers of the Risen Saviour remain here within this society, we are told what our responsibility must be. As he wrote those dark words which opened his missive to the Romans, Paul segued to the responsibility of Christians, writing, “You have no excuse—every one of you who judges. For when you pass judgment on another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, practice the very same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who act like this is based on truth. So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on those who practice these things and then do them yourself, do you think you will escape God’s judgment” [ROMANS 2:1-3 ISV]?
Here is what must be done as those who would honour the Saviour. First, do not allow yourself to ensnared by the lure of the dying world. Don’t approve of the wickedness, and don’t pretend it doesn’t exist. Jude will teach Christians, “Have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” [JUDE 22-23]. This sounds much like what Peter teaches when he writes, “Be diligent to be found by [Christ] without spot or blemish” [2 PETER 3:14b].
Above all else, keep yourself in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of Christ our Lord. As Peter urges us, “Take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” [2 PETER 3:17]. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] The concept for this message was derived while listening to a sermon by John MacArthur bearing the title, “It’s Too Late,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD_47QR49I8, accessed 29 June 2022
[3] Jim Thompson, “Story Hour: Drag Queens? Yes. Christians? No.”, RedState, December 07, 2022, https://redstate.com/jimthompson/2022/12/07/story-hour-drag-queens-yes-christians-no-n670185, accessed 7 December 2022
[4] Talia Richman, “Texas district pulls the Bible, Anne Frank adaptation as schools face more book backlash,” August 16, 2022, The Dallas Morning News, https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/2022/08/16/texas-school-staff-told-to-pull-bible-anne-frank-adaptation-from-libraries/, accessed 18 August 2022
[5] “Cheese Is Killing People—and Other Reasons Not to Eat It,” PETA. https://www.peta.org/living/food/reasons-not-to-eat-cheese/, accessed 27 August 2022
[6] Libs of TikTok, “AUDIO: Children’s hospital admits to performing hysterectomies on trans minors,” Aug 25, 2022, https://www.libsoftiktok.com/p/audio-childrens-hospital-admits-to?sd=pf&triedSigningIn=true, accessed 27 August 2022; Jessica Chasmar, “Boston Children’s Hospital deletes references to vaginoplasties for 17-year-olds amid online furor, Fox News, August 18, 2022, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/boston-childrens-hospital-deletes-references-vaginoplasties-17-year-olds-online-furor, accessed 27 August 2022; Chandler Lasch, “Confusion Surrounds Boston Children’s Hospital’s Gender Clinic,” Real Clear Politics, https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/confusion-surrounds-boston-childrens-hospitals-gender-clinic/ar-AA118mKa, accessed 27 August 2022; Hannah Bleau, 11 Aug 2022, “Boston Children’s Hospital Touts ‘Gender-Affirming’ Care for Adolescents and Young Adults,” Breitbart.com, https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/11/boston-childrens-hospital-touts-gender-affirming-care-adolescents/, accessed 27 August 2022; Laurel Duggan, “Children’s Hospital Promotes ‘Gender-Affirming’ Hysterectomies, Sex Change Surgeries,” Daily Caller, August 10, 2022, https://dailycaller.com/2022/08/10/boston-childrens-hospital-gender-affirming-hysterectomies-sex-change-surgeries-transgender/, accessed 27 August 2022
