Now as for you, son of man,
say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus you have spoken, saying, “Surely our
transgressions and our sins are upon us, and we are rotting away in them; how
then can we survive?”’ – Ezekiel 33:10[1]
The prophet Ezekiel was appointed as the watchman over his
nation Israel. His specific duty was to announce to those who had rejected
righteous living that if they would turn from their sinful ways the Lord God
would preserve them from the utter destruction that awaited them in 586 B.C.
The people of God had reached rock bottom in their pursuit
of godlessness and were fully aware of the consequences that laid ahead of
them. They cried out “How then can we survive?” They had awaken out of their
rebellion just a little too late and now judgment was imminent.
The state of our culture parallels the conditions set forth
in Ezekiel’s day. The exception being the United States does not hold the same
position is God’s plan as did the nation of Israel. Our country may have been
founded upon principles based in the Judeo-Christian belief system, yet it is
obvious that at the present hour of our history, there is a substantial element
within our population which repudiate not only the standards and morals of the
founding fathers, but also the reality of the Creator. This has been evident
beginning with liberal theology of the 1920’s, the rise of postmodernism of the
1950’s, and of late, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The deep
political divide that we see today has its roots in the false belief that America
is an evil empire, seeking to rob and pillage the International community of
all of the world’s riches – oil, electronics, entertainment, quality air,
employment. The present insatiable drive towards Progressive/Socialism
erroneously assumes that the confiscation of the wealth of our Nation can
remedy the problems of our country, not to mention the world.
Soon after the terrible events of September 11, 2001, Jerry
Falwell and Pat Robertson in an interview, expressed their opinions concerning
these attacks. They rightly mentioned the need for spiritual revival in the
United States. But then Falwell made a terrible blunder, placing the blame on a
host of social issues. Here is what he said:
"The ACLU has got to take a lot of blame for this. And I
know I'll hear from them for this, but throwing God...successfully with the
help of the federal court system...throwing God out of the public square, out
of the schools...I really believe that the pagans and the abortionists and the
feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an
alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way, all of them who
try to secularize America...I point the finger in their face and say you helped
this happen."[2]
Certainly these social evils are unpleasing to the Creator.
But Christians should be held accountable for having allowed themselves
to be led astray by the false teachings of liberal theology. The absolute
authority of God’s Word states these social ills to be sin in His sight. We as
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ must stand up against this surge of ungodliness
that has infiltrated our churches and seminaries. Our Nation is on the brink of
financial disaster – millions are out of work, trillions of dollars in debt.
Our culture is morally bankrupt, with a generation of Christians whose desire
seems to be that of compromising, letting the culture dictate right and wrong.
It is because of this laissez faire attitude of believers that our Nation is in serious
peril. We Christians are supposed to be the salt of the earth, providing
preservation from God’s wrath by infusing our culture with His principles of
righteous living.
When will we ask: “How then can we survive?” Will it be too
late? Should we look to what God’s Word says?
Paul wrote: Therefore, having these promises, beloved,
let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God. -
2 Corinthians 7:1
The perfecting of
holiness is a process of studying God’s Word and applying it to the experiences
of our lives. That means not only building ourselves up in our faith in Christ
but making His truths evident within the Church and the culture. This
means that Christians at all levels of society (judges, congressmen, teachers,
office workers, homemakers, factory workers, lawyers) must speak and live
Christianity back into our culture.
God’s Word also
stresses that we should beware of those who are disobedient to His Word. Recall
the words of the Apostle Paul:
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from every brother who leads an unruly
life and not according to the tradition which you received from us. - 2 Thessalonians 3:6
If anyone does not obey our instruction in this
letter, take special note of that person and do not associate with him, so that
he will be put to shame. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but admonish
him as a brother. - 2
Thessalonians 3:14-15
Christians cannot be friends with this evil world.[3]
The fact of the matter is that this secularized culture is not satisfied with a
tolerant Christian – one who tacitly assents to their alternative lifestyles and
other godless values. They don’t simply want us to compromise, they want total
capitulation. They want us to repudiate Scripture and the “idea” of absolute
truth, so that they can serve their master, the evil one, Satan, without any
obstruction, with seared consciences, on their merry way to perdition.
It is our responsibility to dissuade them. Our final defense
must rest solely upon the absolute truth and authority of God’s Word. We must emphasize
to them that the undeniable pleasure of the Creator is not to punish the
wicked, but for the wicked to repent. This is what the Lord answered in Ezekiel’s
day:
“Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of
the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back,
turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’ - Ezekiel 33:11