The Spiritual and Prophetic Significance of the Overturning of Roe v. Wade

 
Jeremiah 7:9 “Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not;”

 

Jeremiah 7:31 “And they have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart.”

 

Throughout Scripture, we find God and His people in conflict with the false god Baal, and judgment is sure whenever His people fall prey to the worship of this false god of the Canaanites. In Numbers 25, for instance, God sends a plague among the people of Israel for participating in the worship of Baal at Peor on their journey to the Promised Land. Then in 1 Kings 18, we find Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal who had been brought to the land by the wicked Queen Jezebel. In Jeremiah 7, he is prophesying impending judgment against Israel for worshipping Baal and other false gods. They had gone as far as setting up a “high place” which was a name for a place of worship in the Valley of Hinnom just outside of Jerusalem. The thing that really kindled the Lord’s anger was the abhorrent practice of child sacrifice that was occurring.

 

From Genesis to Revelation, we discover that blood is a sacred thing to God. The blood of Abel cried out to God from the earth in Genesis 4, and Proverbs 6:16-17 reveal that God hates the hands that shed innocent blood. I ask sincerely, “WHAT BLOOD CAN BE MORE INNOCENT APART FROM THE BLOOD OF JESUS THAN THE BLOOD OF AN UNBORN CHILD?” Yet, for almost 50 years, the American Courts had sanctioned the shedding of innocent blood and blocked individual states from passing laws to restrict this heinous practice. While our gods weren’t specifically called Baal, the sacrifice of innocent children on these high places were still occurring accumulating in the deaths of 63 million babies during that time. We sacrificed to the gods of mammon/money, personal convenience, and even eugenics as Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger, would speak to KKK rallies in the early 20^th Century and promote abortions as a way to curb the population of the undesirable segments of American society. Even Planned Parenthood themselves removed Sanger’s name from their organization due to “her racist legacy” in 2020 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/07/21/margaret-sanger-planned-parenthood-eugenics/). While it is good that Planned Parenthood finally admitted the racist roots of their organization and attempted to right that wrong, it still is responsible for the death of countless millions of babies on the altars of monetary gain and personal convenience. Furthermore, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) had been complicit through their egregious overreach in the Roe V. Wade decision.

 

On Friday of last week, June 24th, that changed. By a vote of 6-3, the SCOTUS announce it was overturning Roe v. Wade and sending the issue back to the states to be decided on a state-by-state basis. While many on the right are crediting Donald Trump for his judicial appointments, and many on the left are denouncing the decision on the basis of Personal Sovereignty, Separation of Church and State, and Privacy Rights, let me share what I believe the decision is from a spiritual and prophetic standpoint. THIS IS A VICTORY FOR THE SPIRIT OF ELIJAH OVER THE PROPHETS OF BAAL! This is also a victory for the Remnant of believers who prayed for Roe v. Wade to be overturned and at least allow the states to decide for themselves what their practice would be. This was a victory for all the godly Pastors who stood for life and preached against the practice of abortion, in spite of being maligned by some in their congregations as “getting political.” BUT EVEN MORE, I believe this can be the start of something wonderful in our nation. We used to sing “These are the Days of Elijah, declaring the Word of the Lord. These are the days of Your servant Moses righteousness being restored….Behold He comes!” I still believe God wants to send revival to America before the Lord returns. Furthermore, I believe the date being the 24th is significant as 24 represents the Righteous Judgment of God as we see 24 elders around the throne in Revelation 4 and 5. Perhaps this decision will be the first step toward that occurring. May the true Church of the Lord Jesus rise to the occasion. May we stand for the sanctity of life from the womb to the tomb. And may we boldly proclaim the salvation and healing found at the cross to so many people who have been left broken by this fallen world and its systems! I, for one AM AND ALWAYS WILL BE a Pastor who stand for life. God bless!

God Has Changed My Prayers for America

On April 29, 1607, a group of settlers led by Captain John Smith landed at Cape Henry near present Virginia Beach, VA. Their preacher, the Rev. Robert Hunt, planted a wooden cross and made this statement:

 

  "We do hereby dedicate this Land, and ourselves, to reach the People within these shores with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to raise up Godly generations after us, and with these generations take the Kingdom of God to all the earth. May this Covenant of Dedication remain to all generations, as long as this earth remains, and may this Land, along with England, be Evangelist to the World. May all who see this Cross, remember what we have done here, and may those who come here to inhabit join us in this Covenant and in this most noble work that the Holy Scriptures may be fulfilled." (Gary Demar, Accessed August 16, 2021)

  He was known as a peacemaker and helped Captain Smith keep his men in order. After stating that God in his providence had kept the Spanish from settling North America and believing that God had reserved the land for the Protestant English, (National Parks Service, Accessed August 16, 2021) he made the following declaration: "From these very shores the Gospel shall go forth not only to this New World but the entire world." (Gary Demar, Accessed August 16, 2021)

 

One of America's first flags that flew over a squadron of cruisers led by George Washington in 1775 had an evergreen tree, which was a symbol of a Divine Covenant, and had on it the words, "Appeal to Heaven."  (Dave Benner, 2017) America was founded in Covenant with God to be a beacon to the nations and a beach head from which the Gospel would go forth to those nations. I believe that America has a prophetic destiny to fulfill until the Church is removed at the Rapture, and God is not through with her yet. 

Throughout her history, Israel was a people that had ups and downs spiritually. They would rebel, endure judgement, then come back to God. They would kindle God's anger through idolatry, but then God would remember them and restore them, because they were His Covenant People. God was not and is not through with Israel, as we see His mercy towards them allowing a dead nation with a dead language to live again in our day. Similarly, I believe that America has a destiny, and God still wants to use us as a nation. 

Although Israel sinned, God was still merciful towards her. Although America has sinned and strayed - Abortion, Abominations, Radical Secularism in Higher Education, etc. - God will still be merciful if we do as those first Colonist/Revolutionaries did and "Appeal to Heaven." 

James 2:13 NKJV states: "For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment." DID YOU CATCH THAT LAST PHRASE!?! God's mercy triumphs over judgment! No wonder the most prayed prayer in the Bible is "Lord, have mercy!" We have too many prophets of doom and gloom in America who use their eschatological viewpoints as an excuse to pronounce endless curses and judgment upon America, and I have been in that camp at times myself. But here's the point, God does visit the iniquity of the fathers to the 3rd and 4th Generation (The Holy Bible NKJV, Exodus 20:5), but He shows mercy to THOUSANDS that love Him and keep His commandments. (The Holy Bible NKJV, Exodus 20:6).

Instead of praying, "God destroy the wicked;" or, like the Pharisee, "God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector," (The Holy Bible NKJV, Luke 18:11) I'm going to pray "God have mercy on me a sinner, and on America. Continue to use us as your people to take the Gospel to our own nation and the nations of the World!" And "Raise up righteous leaders to lead us in this effort, both in the Church and the Government!" Quit sitting around moping, griping, complaining, or even gloating about what you are or are not in comparison to everyone around you, and start interceding and appealing to Heaven for mercy on our nation! 

For lack of permission to use his name, I will simply call him "Jim," but I am blessed each week to call on Jim to pray aloud in our church. Each week, with tears in his eyes and brokenness in his voice he prays for God to restore America to our foundations and use us again as a people. May we all develop that heart for our nation. God is not through with us! He can still and still wants to revive us. He was willing to spare Sodom for 10 righteous people. May God raise up a righteous remnant to intercede for America and pray, "Lord, have mercy!"

References

Benner, Dave. "John Locke's Appeal to Heaven: Its Continuing Relevance." April 16, 2017.  https://tenthamendmentcenter.com/2017/04/16/john-lockes-appeal-to-heaven-its-continuing-relevance/. Accessed August 16, 2021.

Demar, Gary. "Choose Your this Day Whose Notes You Will Follow." https://americanvision.org/1644/choose-day-whose-notes-will-follow/. August 19, 2008. Accessed August 16, 2021.

National Parks Service Website. "The Reverend Robert Hunt: The First Chaplain at Jamestown." https://www.nps.gov/jame/learn/historyculture/the-reverend-robert-hunt-the-first-chaplain-at-jamestown.htm. Accessed August 16, 2021.

The Holy Bible New King James Version.

The Wind Blows Where It Will

John 3:8 "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

In describing to Nicodemus the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, he uses the wind as a metaphor. He says essentially that it blows where it will. You can't tell it where to come to and where to go. It will blow wherever it wants to. As we apply this to how the Holy Spirit works in our lives, a few things come to mind.

First, You can't Conjure up the Holy Spirit. Now, I will be the first to admit that we are ALL products of our upbringing in regards to what we believe and practice concerning the doctrine of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in particular. Some are on the Extreme Right that says the gifts of the Holy Spirit have ceased with either the Apostles or the Canonization of Scripture. Now, there are some problems with this viewpoint in that the Gifts of the Spirit were promised and practiced, even in the first Century by more believers than just the Apostles. And the verse that many use to say they ceased with the Canonization of Scripture, [1 Corinthians 13:10 "But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."] must be taken completely out of context in order to apply it to anything other than Love coming in perfection, which will happen when we are face to face in the presence of Him who is Love! However, there are others who are on the Extreme Left in regards to the Gifts of the Spirit, and basically anything, as long as you're feeling it, goes. As a good friend of mine likes to say, "There's a ditch on both sides of the road." We shouldn't go to either extreme. We should seek to be Biblical in regards to the Work of the Holy Spirit and His Gifts. So what does the Bible say? 

According to 1 Corinthians 12:11, "But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will." The Holy Spirit gives to each believer different gifts "AS HE WILL." In other words, you can't say enough Ba Ba La's and Ka Ka Ka's to work yourself up to speak in tongues. It is a Gift, and a gift must be First Given and then Second Received. It might not be God's will to give you the Gift of Tongues right now, but you can discover and operate in power and faith in whatever other gift He has given you. Furthermore, the Spirit works in harmony with our will. 1 Corinthians 14:32 tells us, "And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets." And we are told that we should always be looking out for the well-being of others in how we operate in our spiritual gift. In other words, the Spirit is not going to come on you and you start speaking in tongues, prophesying, etc. uncontrollably and causing confusion or worse fear in those that are weaker in the Faith. That's why God tells us in 1 Corinthians 14:40, "Let all things be done decently and in order." So don't feel that you have to work something up in order not to be inferior to someone else. In the Kingdom of God, there are not Big Shots and Little Shots, there are only different servants who are equipped and empowered in different ways to do different things to glorify God, evangelize the lost, and edify their brothers and sisters in Christ. 

Also, the Holy Spirit is not tied to a song or style of worship. While He may work through and use these things to get us into the Presence of God, he may not. And sometimes, if we aren't careful, we will confuse raw emotion for the Holy Spirit. While again, He works sometimes through our emotions, emotions can also be worked up in the flesh. So test the spirits if they are of God. And if you don't sense the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life, keep asking, seeking and knocking until the door opens and the veil is lifted so you can see what He is trying to do in your life.

Second, We cannot Control the Spirit. Sometimes, we try and control the work of the Spirit in our lives and churches to keep Him in our own theological and traditional boxes, because it makes us uncomfortable if He chooses to operate outside of what we've always known, seen or been taught. We essentially try and tell the Spirit of God that He can only do this or that, and we in essence keep Him from doing all that He wants in our lives. This is also dangerous, because we are told specifically not to GRIEVE or QUENCH the Holy Spirit. Again from our text in John 3:8, "The wind bloweth where it listeth," in other words it blows where it will or wants to.

Finally, We MUST Cooperate with the Spirit! If we want to see the Holy Spirit work powerfully in our lives, we must cooperate with Him as He seeks to fill us, gift us and empower us. We must pray through the discomfort where our traditions are being challenged and always seek to operate in love and understanding towards others, if He chooses to work in a different way in and through them. If we will properly discern the voice and actions of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will be able to walk and run with a tailwind getting further faster in our lives and seeing God use us to do more for His glory! So, today, let's resolve to not try and conjure up the Spirit or Control the Spirit but COOPERATE with Him as He seeks to work in our lives for God's glory!

Living in the Not Yet

Isaiah 9:6-7 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

At this season of the year, we celebrate the First Advent of Jesus. We remember his birth and sing songs about a baby who was born in an obscure village in an obscure province of the Roman Empire during the time when Caesar Augustus reigned through the iron fist of militarism and burdensome taxation. The downtrodden masses resented it, yet the leaders of the Jews had compromised with it and were living quite well. There was a major disconnect between the ruling class and the working class. The masses longed for freedom, yet they didn't know that true freedom came by being set free from a different slave master than that of Rome. And it was in this environment that Jesus appeared in time the first time.

In 2,000 + years, it seems that not much has changed. The masses are still under the yoke of taxation and militarism. They long to be free, yet don't realize they are under a far worse task master than the government. They need hope, and cry out for peace. They need help, and don't know where to turn. As in Jesus' day, they are like sheep without a shepherd that he longs to come to him, yet the majority won't. And in this environment, much like the First Century, where the government is looked to, along with our leaders as gods, that we find ourselves celebrating His First Advent this year. 

But what was it about a baby born 2000 years ago that can offer us any hope today. For certainly in our day, we find little in our society today. Our politicians and celebrities are bogged down in lawsuits with innuendo and accusation of sexual harassment and other crimes. Most of our churches are empty, while the bars are full. Many leaders in our churches are involved in immorality hidden or open, and it's only a matter of time before their sin will find them out. Many turn to religion to only find it as empty as the bottle of pills they downed a week before. 

What if anything can offer us hope?

To this question we turn to Isaiah who gave us prophecy concerning Christ's First Coming but it also contains a foreshadowing of things to come when He returns at His 2nd Advent. He tells us that He was given to us as a "Wonderful, Counselor, an Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace." In this day when so many are turning to psychiatry and psychology for answers, going to many earthly counselors, can we be reminded that Jesus came to be a Wonderful Counselor!?! He is a friend that sticks closer and the well-spring of all wisdom! 

According to John 1, He is the Word [Logos], who was in the beginning with God and in the beginning was God! The Logos was the loftiest idea in Greek Philosophy, and the Word was often used by the Jewish Scribes as a Euphemism for the name of Jehovah God. John was saying, as was Isaiah that when Jesus came He was and is the Answer to all of life's questions and Solution to all of life's problems. 

Isaiah goes on to tell us that "The Government will be on His shoulder, and of the increase of His government there shall be no end." Ye we ask how can this be so? He was crucified and cut off. He didn't reestablish the throne of His Father David, and certainly the governments of this World today are as corrupt as the day is long, and our politicians compromised. The truth is, He came to set up a Kingdom that exists in this World, but is not of this World, yet one day it will take over this World and crush all the Kingdoms that we now see in this World. This is what Daniel saw in Daniel 2:44-45, which states, "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.

Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." It's as if it has already taken place, for the interpretation is sure! 

Just as God announced in advance through the prophets that Jesus was coming to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), to be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14), and to save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21); they announce a 2nd Coming and a visible Kingdom that is coming to do away with the Earthly Kingdoms that have promised Utopia yet brought more oppression. 

But now we live in the not yet! The writer of Scripture describes this in Hebrews 2:7-9: "Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands:

8 Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him.

9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man."

I believe this was Paul who wrote these words, and he describes Christ's First Advent when He who was God, was made a little lower than the angels, perfected through suffering and now highly exalted. He has had all things placed under His feet, but "Now we see NOT YET all things placed under Him." HOW CAN THIS BE? Either they have or they haven't. Truth be told, they have! We are just yet to see the fulfillment. It's what Solomon was saying in Ecclesiastes 1:9, where he states, "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun." In the mind and eternal purpose of God, IT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED, yet we await its fulfillment in time. Just as with His First Coming, it was established in Eternity Past from the Foundation of the World, foretold of prophets for Centuries and Millennia, yet wasn't seen until Christ was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem and effectively split time in half, with the Common Era beginning and continuing "In the Year of Our Lord!" 

The same is true of the time When the Government will be on His shoulder, all things, including the Kingdoms of this World will be under His feet. We wait! We Watch, and we wait, and we pray, eagerly anticipating "Our Blessed Hope, and the glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ." And we try and prepare as many as we can for that Great Day! We fight the good fight of faith, and we tear down strongholds by claiming the Victory that was won on Calvary and declaring the name which is above every name, THE NAME OF JESUS! We tell them to Good News of His First Coming, which was to die for our sins. But we give them Hope that He will come again and make right the wrongs of this World! 

So this Christmas Season, may we celebrate His first Coming, but also look forward with anticipation to His 2nd. And may we redeem the time and win others to Him, claiming the victory of Calvary, as we live in the Not Yet! May God bless you!

Waiting on God

It seems like we live in a nation and culture that is out of control because of all the protesting, anger and rage being spewed by everyone from the NFL, to Hollywood, to Washington DC and sadly even to some churches and church folks. Players are disrespecting the flag and nation; fans are boycotting their teams; politicians and media types are on a witch hunt to try and discredit their opponents and even drum up charges to try and remove them from office. Everyone is taking sides and no one is willing to listen to other side. And before you think I'm being holier than thou or even hypocritical, I will be the first to admit that I'm as guilty as anyone else of taking a side and running with it; and yes sometimes allowing my righteous indignation to become unholy anger and sin.

The truth is, our society and nation do have deep and complex problems, and there is no quick solution or easy answers to these problems. There IS a problem with police brutality and racial profiling in many of our inner cities across America. There are still racist people who give privileges and perks to white people over African-Americans who do the same job for the same company. And there are problems on both sides with White Americans and Black Americans who stereotype one another and just want to shout at one another. There is a problem with Black on Black Crime and Domestic Violence that sometimes well meaning Police Officers get called to break up, only to have the perpetrator and victim turn on them; and they are forced to defend themselves and families are left broken with a dead loved one lying on the street. There is a problem with people who break the law in order to migrate to this nation, some with the best of intentions, trying to make a better life for themselves, and others with the worst intentions of doing harm to this nation and its citizens. Then there is the problem of what to do with the children of these individuals who may or may not have been born on American soil. The answers to these complex problems are not always clear cut black and white, and there are real people with real feelings and eternal souls who are often caught in the cross-hairs of this struggle. SO WHAT IF ANYTHING DO WE DO ABOUT IT?

Now, I like to read a Chapter in Psalms and a Chapter in Proverbs every day in my quiet time. Today, I was in Psalm 27, and I came to verse 14, which states: "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." One Commentary on this verse said this: "Waiting for the Lord is an abbreviated way to express waiting for an answer to prayer. Rather than taking matters into their own hands, the people of God should wait patiently for Yahweh's response!"

This especially rang true with me, because I have a bad habit of rushing to judgment, getting sucked into arguments, and then having to passionately defend that argument at the risk of hurting others. Sometimes things are better left unsaid and opinions kept to oneself.

I was convicted this morning that I need to talk to God about problems in my life, culture, nation and society more than talking to others or expressing said views on Social Media. And may we WAIT on God's response instead of taking matters into our own hands! It's okay to express an opinion and bring truth to light in a discussion, but we must be careful to do it in a right way that honors God, and respects the other person who also was created in the image of God. We have a responsibility to honor those in authority over us (Romans 13:1-7) and pray for our political leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

What am I saying? As the people of God, let's try and heed the words of Scripture. James 1:19 "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow tospeak, slow to wrath:"
And 1 Thessalonians 4:11 "And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;"

May we not just be hearers or even people who quote the Word to prove our point. But let us be doers of the Word and show the world by our actions, our love for God and love for others, that we are indeed His disciples! Have a blessed day!