Watchman Radio Hour

David Schulte: Welcome to the Watchman Radio Hour. Coming to you from Portland, Oregon, here in the beautiful Northwest. This is David Schulte, your announcer. The Watchman Radio Hour is a production of Watchman Radio Ministries International, an evangelistic ministry reaching out to the people of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now, here is our speaker, Alex Dodson, to bring you this week's message from God's Word.

Alex Dodson: For our scripture reading today, let us turn to Luke chapter 3 and we will begin reading in verse 1. Let us hear the Word of God. In the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the Word of God came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert.

He went into all the country around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, a voice of one calling in the desert, "Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth, and all mankind will see God's salvation."

John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones, God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

Our Father in heaven, we thank You for the Bible that You've given to us. We thank You that it is Your infallible Word and that we can put our full confidence in everything that it says. And now, oh Lord, as we come to study Your Word today, we pray that You will send Your Holy Spirit in great convicting power. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

John the Baptist went out to warn a sinful people of the judgment that was coming upon them because of their sins. Today, we as a nation are living in a similar time. Our sins are piled up to heaven and increasing every day, and we are drawing nearer and nearer to judgment. As a nation, we have never experienced before the degree and intensity of our sins as they are now, and that degree and intensity are increasing as each day passes.

Today, we are calling evil good and good evil. Our forefathers would be shocked to see the enormity of the sins that we as a nation are committing. We are making idols and bowing down to them and serving them. We are elevating sports stars to heights never before seen and giving our worship to them. We are profaning the Sabbath day by holding on that day great commercial sports events. We are paying sports stars astronomical salaries, creating great idols for us to worship.

We are worshiping pleasure more than we are worshiping God, whether it is going on the latest cruise or gorging ourselves with all sorts of entertainment. We have become a nation of sexual immorality in all of its forms and have elevated perverse sexual practices to the highest levels in our culture and honoring such. We are shaking our fist in the face of our Creator by trashing the form of marriage instituted by God and putting something else in its place and honoring it. We are doing these things with marriage that God never intended for us to do.

We are crying women's rights at the same time killing human beings by the millions each year and act as if we've done nothing wrong. The blood of children cries out from our land. If we do not repent of our great sins, this land will vomit us out. God warned the people of Israel about doing this very thing in Leviticus 18.

The chapter begins by saying, "The Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them, I am the Lord your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey My laws and be careful to follow My decrees. I am the Lord your God. Keep My decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the Lord.'"

The chapter then goes into a series of laws concerning sexual relations with many about incest. However, it also mentions child sacrifice in verse 21. Beginning in verse 20 we read, "Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor's wife and defile yourself with her. Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Moloch, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman, that is detestable. Do not have sexual relations with an animal and defile yourself with it. A woman must not present herself to an animal to have sexual relations with it, that is a perversion."

The chapter then gives a grave warning to the Israelites beginning in verse 24. "Do not defile yourselves in any of these ways because this is how the nations that I am going to drive out before you became defiled. Even the land was defiled, so I punished it for its sin and the land vomited out its inhabitants. But you must keep My decrees and My laws. The native born and the aliens living among you must not do any of these detestable things."

"For all these things were done by the people who lived in the land before you, and the land became defiled. And if you defile the land, it will vomit you out as it vomited out the nations that were before you." The warning to the Israelites is that the land will vomit them out if they continue these sins. Please note that our own nation is guilty of sexual sins included in this list in Leviticus 18.

We're also guilty of sacrificing our children to the material gods of this nation, the gods of pleasure and convenience, as millions of children have been killed legally through abortion on demand. This chapter condemns our nation and warns us that we as a people who have committed these great sins will be vomited out of this land. This is a grave warning to this nation today, lest we repent of our great sins, the land will cast us out.

The chapter closes with a further admonition from God beginning in verse 29. "Everyone who does any of these detestable things, such persons must be cut off from their people. Keep My requirements and do not follow any of the detestable customs that were practiced before you came and do not defile yourselves with them. I am the Lord your God."

Nations have been destroyed who committed the sins listed in Leviticus 18. They were not spared, and we will not be spared if we continue to commit such sins in this nation and to promote and honor such sins. This land will vomit us out. Our text is Luke 3:9 where it says, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."

Judgment will come if we do not repent. Today, we are playing with fire. We are committing sins that God has clearly condemned. History shows that nations who committed such sins were destroyed. Judgment came on them, and it will come on us if we do not repent. We are playing with fire and condoning sins that God calls an abomination. We may get away with it for a while but not forever. Judgment will come, and this land will vomit us out if we do not repent.

Let us see in the first place that this is an urgent warning. The axe is there now. The original Greek for this verse has the word "now" first, and it is emphatic. The axe is lying at the base of the tree and is ready to start cutting if the people do not repent. The axe is ready and is about to begin cutting. Norval Geldenhuys writes, "There must be no postponement of repentance on the part of his hearers, for the axe is already being laid to the root of the trees. The judgment is on the point of being executed on those who remain unrepentant."

David Brown writes, "The axe is laid unto, that is, lieth at the root of the trees, as it were, already to strike. An expressive figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the way next described." John the Baptist warned the people in no uncertain words. Today, God warns us in no uncertain words. Judgment is imminent. Judgment is coming on the nation. It has already begun. The axe is already falling.

If no action to repent, then certain judgment. Matthew 7:19 says, "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." John Broadus, commenting, says, "Hewn down, literally cut down and is cast, describe the action as actually going on. The discrimination is already beginning, even now. In 7:19, the present tense denotes what is customary in the case of such trees. They will be cut down." Certain judgment on a nation that does not repent, certain judgment on individuals that do not repent.

Let us see secondly today that this is a warning to the nation. Verse 9 again says, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." The nation is full of sin. Luke 3:7, John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" John the Baptist was warning individuals, but he was also warning the nation collectively. The nation had sinned and judgment would come because of it.

Today, our nation is full of sin. Idolatry in many forms, worshiping sports stars by giving them exorbitant salaries, great commercial sports events being held on the Sabbath day, worship of pleasure and entertainment as never before seen in history. For many, our smartphones and technical devices have become idols, not to mention our latest SUVs and automobiles. We have become a materialistic society. For many, sports events and rock concerts have become great worship services with hands held up in worship, but not in worship of God.

Sexual immorality pervades the land in all of its forms, whether it is pornography of immense proportions, readily available everywhere, especially through the internet, or couples living together outside of marriage or fornication and adultery. Sexual perversions, our forefathers would have been ashamed to even mention are now exalted as never before and approved by the multitudes. When will it all end? What will it take to bring this madness to an end?

We are honoring activities and lifestyles our forefathers would have condemned as immoral and abominable. We have allowed millions of unborn children to be slaughtered legally for the sake of convenience. Many cry out when children are mistreated, but at the same time condone and encourage the killing of unborn babies. What a nation of hypocrites. When will this slaughter stop?

We are sacrificing our children to the gods of materialism and pleasure, doing what we think is right in our own eyes and in ignoring the moral law of God. We are sacrificing our children to idols, just as was done long ago. In Jeremiah 32:35 it says, "They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Moloch, and though I never commanded nor did it enter My mind that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin."

And judgment on the nation would come. The nation of Israel would be judged for her sins. She had rebelled against God, and judgment would come, and it did in 70 AD. The city and temple were destroyed by the Romans. Any nation that turns its back on God will face judgment. Our nation is not exempt from judgment. We are committing great sins and the consequences will be great if we do not repent as a nation.

Judgments are already falling upon us in various ways, whether it be natural calamities or wild beasts being let loose among us in the form of mass shootings. Things that never happened before are being felt by our present generation. In a sense, we can see God withdrawing His protection from us, and such will continue if we do not wake up and repent as a nation. We have become a generation that no longer recognizes the judgment of God upon us. Natural calamities are just acts of nature, not acts of God to us.

We think we understand everything and explain everything by second causes and fail to see the hand of God upon us. This was not so in the case of our forefathers who first came to this land. In the third summer after the pilgrims arrived in this land, a severe drought came upon the land. It lasted 12 weeks and the oldest Indians could not remember such a drought ever happening before. Edward Winslow described the drought and what happened as a result.

He wrote, "There scarce fell any rain, so that the stalk of that planting which was first set began to send forth the ear before it came to half growth, and that which was later not like to yield any at all, both blade and stalk hanging the head in shame and changing the color in such manner as we judged it utterly dead. Our beans also ran not up according to their wonted manner but stood at a stay, many being parched away as though they had been scorched before the fire. Now were our hopes overthrown and we were discouraged and our joy turned to mourning because God, who hitherto had been our only shield and supporter, now seemed in His anger to arm Himself against us. And who can withstand the fierceness of His wrath?"

Winslow continues to write, "These and the like considerations moved not only every good man privately to enter into examination with his own estate between God and his conscience, and so to humiliation before Him, but also to humble ourselves together before the Lord by fasting and prayer. To that end, a day was appointed by public authority and set apart from all other employments." Today, it seems that we have become so secular as a nation that we do not believe in fasting and prayer when calamity strikes us. We do not believe in examining ourselves to see what we may have done wrong or what sins in our lives may have caused God to allow such calamities to take place in our land. We've become so sophisticated that such things do not happen anymore.

But our forefathers saw things differently. Winslow goes on to describe the prayer meeting they had and its results. He writes, "But oh, the mercy of our God, who was as ready to hear as we were to ask. For though in the morning when we assembled together, the heavens were as clear and the drought as like to continue as it ever was before, our exercise continuing some eight or nine hours, before our departure the weather was overcast, the clouds gathered on all sides, and on the next morning distilled such soft, sweet, and moderate showers of rain continuing some 14 days and mixed with such seasonable weather as it was hard to say whether our withered corn or drooping affections were most quickened or revived, such was the bounty and goodness of our God."

William Bradford, the governor, wrote, "It came without either wind or thunder or any violence and by degrees in that abundance as that the earth was thoroughly wet and soaked therewith, which did so apparently revive and quicken the decayed corn and other fruits as was wonderful to see and made the Indians astonished to behold." Peter Marshall and David Manuel write about this, the yield that year was so abundant that the pilgrims ended up with a surplus of corn which they were able to use in trading that winter with the Northern Indians who had not had a good growing season. A second day of Thanksgiving was planned in 1623.

John Winthrop was the founder in 1630 and first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, being elected 12 consecutive times. He was a successful lawyer and a strong Puritan leader. Oliver Cromwell pleaded with him to join the revolution in England, but John Winthrop declined the offer, deciding rather to leave England for religious freedom. In June of 1630, 10 years after the pilgrims founded the Plymouth Colony, Governor John Winthrop landed in Massachusetts Bay with 700 people in 11 ships, thus beginning the Great Migration which lasted for 16 years and saw more than 20,000 Puritans embark for New England.

On June the 11th, 1630, aboard the ship Arbella, John Winthrop authored his famous work, A Model of Christian Charity, which became a guideline for future constitutional covenants of the colonies. John Beardsley writing concerning Winthrop's writing says it was written on board the Arbella in 1630. "We love to imagine the occasion when he personally spoke this oration to some large portion of the Winthrop fleet passengers during or just before their passage. In an age long past, when the Puritan founders were still respected by the educational establishment, this was required reading in many courses of American history and literature."

John Winthrop wrote, "The love among Christians is a real thing, not imaginary, as absolutely necessary to the well-being of the body of Christ as the sinews and other ligaments of a natural body are to the well-being of that body. We are a company professing ourselves fellow members of Christ and thus we ought to account ourselves knit together by this bond of love. For the work we have in hand, it is by mutual consent through a special overruling providence and a more than ordinary approbation of the churches of Christ to seek out a place of cohabitation and consorts-ship under a due form of government, both civil and ecclesiastical."

Winthrop goes on to say, "Thus stands the cause between God and us. We are entering into a covenant with Him for this work. We have taken out a commission. The Lord hath given us leave to draw our own articles. We have professed to enterprise these and those accounts upon these and those ends. We have hereupon besought Him a favor and blessing. Now if the Lord shall please to hear us and bring us in peace to this place we desire, then hath He ratified this covenant and sealed our commission and will expect a strict performance of the articles contained in it. But if we shall neglect the observation of these articles which are the ends we have propounded, and dissembling with our God shall fall to embrace this present world and prosecute our carnal intentions, seeking great things for ourselves and our posterity, the Lord will surely break out in wrath against us and revenge of such a people and make us know the price of the breach of such a covenant."

And then Winthrop goes on to say, "For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword through the world." And then he concludes with these words, "In that we are commanded this day to love the Lord our God and to love one another, to walk in His ways and to keep His commandments and His ordinance and His laws and the articles of our covenant with Him, that we may live and be multiplied and that the Lord our God may bless us in the land whither we go to possess it."

"But if our heart shall turn away so that we will not obey but shall be seduced and worship other gods, our pleasure and profits, and serve them, it is propounded unto us this day we shall surely perish out of the good land whither we pass over this vast sea to possess it. Therefore, let us choose life that we and our seed may live by obeying His voice and cleaving to Him, for He is our life and our prosperity."

We've turned away from our God, and we have bowed down to other gods, and we have sought our own pleasures and profits, and we are serving them, and we will surely perish out of this good land if we do not repent. The message that John the Baptist preached to the nation of Israel is the same message that needs to be preached to our nation today. The axe is already laid at the root of the tree, and if we do not repent, that tree will surely be cut down. This nation will surely perish and the land will surely vomit us out if we do not turn back to our God and repent of our great sins.

Let us go to our knees and repent before the Lord and ask Him to forgive us of our great sins as a people. Let us turn back to the God of our fathers. The people who settled this land were a God-fearing people who acknowledged the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us go back and retrieve their faith and make it our own once again as a people. In Psalm 85:9 it says, "Surely His salvation is near those who fear Him, that His glory may dwell in our land." Let us fear the Lord as a people and come near Him to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as our forefathers did.

Let us once again be a Christian nation and worship and serve the Lord as a people. In Psalm 33:12 it says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." Let's turn now back to the God of our fathers and be blessed as a people. But if we don't, sure and certain judgment is coming upon us. The axe is already at the base of the tree. The time to repent is now, tomorrow may be too late. Return to the Lord while we can. Turn from your sins and turn to Christ the Lord. In Psalm 2:12 it says, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for His wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him."

Our Father in heaven, forgive us for our great sins as a nation. Our sins are piled up to heaven, they are higher than they've ever been before, and we as a people have approved of things that You call an abomination. Oh Father in heaven, we pray that You will send forth Your Holy Spirit and Your Word in great power throughout the land and bring the nation to its knees with great conviction of sin. We pray that a great mourning will go up in the land as we as a people mourn over our great sins, and we pray that the nation as a whole will turn back to You. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

David Schulte: Thanks for listening to the Watchman Radio Hour. We invite you to come again next week to hear another timely message from God's Word. We are Watchman Radio Ministries International, reaching out to the people of the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.