Watchman Radio Hour

Present judgements are a warning of a Judgement yet to come. A Judgement Day is coming when we will all have to stand before the Judgement Seat of God. How many will be able to stand in the presence of a Holy God? What preparations are we making now for that Great Judgement Day? Let us be warned by present day calamities to get ready for the future Judgement Day?

The church in Thessalonica is already established and Paul writes to encourage and help them. The church belongs to Christ. This church is "in the Lord Jesus Christ". It is grounded in Him. It is His church.

Jesus said concerning the church in Matthew 16:28 - "And I say also unto thee, that thou are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That is Satan and all his forces will not be able to stop the church's forward momentum. It will be such a mighty force in the earth that Satan will not be able to stop it. How different is that view from today's popular teaching on the church. The church will wax weaker and weaker and eventually only a remanant will remain and have to be raptured out of this evil world controlled by Satan. In other words, this popular view gives Satan the victory over the church in this age. Yet, is there not a view of the church that is much brighter than this? It seems to me that there is and that it is found throughout the Bible especially in the prophets of the Old Tesament and in the teachings of the New Testament itself.

Jesus is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. Some think our work is almost done and soon we will be taken away to be with the Lord. Yet, this seems premature to believe. Our mission is to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. There seems that there is much work yet to be done when only a small percentage of great nations like India and China know Christ. Other nations have even smaller percentages of Christians. Also, there are great nations that once acknowledged Christ that have turned away from Him as a people. They need to be recovered for the gospel. There is so much work yet to be done that we must press forward and not give up. It seems to me that the greater work is yet to be done. The kingdom of Satan will not win. The kingdom of God must advance. Our prayer must continually be that the church will grow and prosper and be a shining light in this world that brighter days will yet come for her.

Our view of the church is important. How did the Old Testament prophets view the church and its future? Some say that they didn't even see the church coming. Yet, is that really true? Did not the Old Testament prophets indeed see the church of the future and prophesy of its glory? Is there no continuity between the New Testament people of God and the Old Testament people of God? There was indeed a continuity. The New Testament people of God were an outgrowth of the Old Testament people of God. This is what Paul teaches us in Romans 11. There is only one olive tree. It began in the Old Testament and it continues in the New Testament as the Gentiles are engrafted into it. Zion is renewed and reborn in the New Testament Church. The Old Testament Zion continues on in the New Testament Zion. The Messiah has come and He has set up His Church and He reigns spiritually over her. The Old Testament prophets looked ahead and saw the New Testament Zion, the renewed and fulfillment of the Old Testament Zion. They prophesied of glorious days ahead for the church. We are not going down in defeat but the church is yhet to see her glory in this age.

Our nation has become a wasteland of unrighteousness and moral decay. Our land is overgrown in thorns and briers. We are not what we once were. Yet, there is still hope. The prophet gives hope for a barren land. That hope comes only when God pours out His Spirit on that land. We must not give up. We are living in very dark times. Our nation has declined to a point it has never seen before. We are deserting God. We are throwing off His laws. We are shaking our fists in His face. Yet, things can change. A wicked nation can repent. We only have to remember Nineveh in the days of Jonah. They were wicked but after Jonah preached thety repented.

Our nation sinks in immorality of all kinds and we think we are doing okay. We don't really need God. This kind of thinking and this path will lead to destruction. We must wake up and turn back and recapture the vision of our forefathers. Our forefathers had a definite vision for the nation. Today, we have lost that vision. We have turned away from the hearts of our fathers and we have sought out another way. Our hearts are far from God as a people and we need to repent.

Excessive drinking is wrong and abstinence is commendable. When we are living in a sinful and wicked society where men and women bow down and worship idols of all sorts, we need to be careful how we live. Some years ago I attended a wedding rehearsal in a park in upstate New York where I was to conduct a wedding for some relatives. On that same day, a group of high school seniors were having a party celebrating their graduation. Alcohol was everywhere and drunkeness and excessive drinking by these young people was very apparent. I was shocked to see this. I had seen college students do the same but not students as young as these that day. That was over thirty years ago. The same still happens today. In a nation where such activity takes place among its young people, surely there is a place for Christians to abstain from drinking. Drunkeness is wrong. Abstaining from drink is commendable. The Bible teaches both.

Sinful living will bring God's wrath upon us as a nation. This is a lesson we will learn and a lesson that is now being taught whether we realize it or not. A godly society brings the blessings of God. A sinful society brings God's wrath upon it. Our forefathers promoted a godly society and God blessed this nation. They were not perfect and there were times when the nation was not so godly but powerful revivals brought the nation back to God time and again. We have reaped the benefits from the godly living that has preceded us. However, today's generation is casting all of that off and going their own way thinking that our prosperity will continue. It will not. Sinful living brings the wrath of God upon us. His warning judgments are already falling and they will get much worse if we do not repent as a nation. This is the message of the hour. We need to repent of sinful living. If we don't, God's wrath will increase upon us. We cannot fix the economy and prosper if we continue in sin. It will not work. No matter what the politicians tell us. Prosperity comes to a nation that honors God. A nation that dishonors God will not prosper. This is a lesson we are going to learn. Yet, we must pray for a national spiritual revival. That is our only hope.

Great strides are being made in this country in things that bring corruption to individuals and the nation. We are sowing to our sinful nature and we will reap destruction. Our greatest need today is not to revamp the economy. Our greatest need is a national spiritual revival. Such revivals have come in times past and they can come again if God sees fit to send them. Yet, our sins are piled up to heaven and we will reap destruction if we do not repent as a people and as a nation. God's wrath is upon us even now and it will increase. Yet, we must pray for mercy and ask for revival to come before its too late.