Message 20 - By Jerry D. Green
Dear America,
I’m writing this
letter to let you know my concern for you. You are the land of my nativity and
the land I love, but I must tell you, you are not the land I once knew. A Christian
man from Australia once asked me, “Why is America so blessed while all the
nations to our south are so impoverished?” I told him those nations were
settled by men looking for “gold” while America was settled by men looking for
“God.” The first settlers to come to America were men and women desiring
freedom to worship God according the dictates of their own heart, free from
religious and secular tyranny. That man knew exactly what I meant by “God,” and
rejoiced in it, but today I would have to be much more specific. Today I would
have to say the “God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ,” for the vast
majority of Americans today, even those who claim to be Christians, do not know
God, nor who He is. Former President Jimmy Carter is a typical example. He
proudly relates back to a summit meeting, where the President of Egypt (a
Muslim), said of the Prime Minister of Israel (a Jew), and of himself (a
professed Christian), that we all worship the same god. President Carter was so
impressed with these “inspired” words, he felt to share them with the whole
world. But what god inspired those words? There is something inherently wrong
with this statement that any true Christian should know; and it is this. There
is more than one god, howbeit, there is only one true God. The Apostle Paul
speaks of the one true God as the “…God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ…” and of the other god as “…the god of this world….” For those who may not know, that other
god, the god of this world, is “…that old serpent, called the Devil, and
Satan, which DECEIVETH the whole world….” He is “…the god of this world (and the father of all false gods, who) hath blinded the
minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel
of (Jesus, the) Christ, who is the
image of (the true and living) God, should shine
unto them.” And “…if our gospel (the true gospel of Jesus Christ) be hid, it is hid to
them that are lost”
(Revelation 12:9; II
Corinthians 4:3-4). We should use these scriptures as a kind of spiritual
litmus test of our Christian experience.
Oh America! What
a sad day. You are today as Israel was in the days of Elijah. For the most
part, you don’t even know who God is. In the name of freedom, which is only
of the true and living God, you have stretched forth your arms to the
huddled masses; only to receive any and every false God that would oppress
and/or stamp out the freedom to worship the true and living God as we would
please. In so doing, we have filled our
borders with worshipers of other gods which are all, of “…the god of this world…,” who will soon,
completely destroy this precious freedom we have to worship the true and living
God as we please. America, you do not know the true and living God. I sat grieved as I watched the service in our
national cathedral, a few days after 9/11, as ministers (who professed to be
Christian) shared the pulpit with ministers of Islam and other sects, as they
praised and extolled Allah, and other gods, as the same God they worshiped. Oh
America, “…How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD (Jehovah) be God, follow him: but if Baal (or Allah, or any other so called god, or gods, of ten
thousand times ten thousand names, be God), then follow…” them (I Kings 18:21).
Unbeknown to
those who are spiritually blind, Satan’s “…power (or
powers) of the air…” (i.e., “…the power [or powers] of darkness…”) are frantically at
work today in all those who are of the world, throughout the whole earth. No,
this is not a misprint. There is a
difference between the world and the earth). For Satan, who is “…the prince of the
power of the air…,” “…knoweth… he hath but a short time” (Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 12:12).
These spiritual powers of darkness are referred to in the book of Revelation
as “…the
beast….” And “…the beast, and the
kings of the earth (‘…the earthy…’ [all those who are of the world]); and their armies (are), gathered together to make war against Him that sat on
the horse (Jesus, the Christ), and against His
army” (His true and faithful
people; His true Church; Revelation 19:19). This scripture tells us
exactly what the spiritual warfare we are seeing is all about. It is today, as it has been for all time,
against God and His truth; the truth of God as it is in Jesus, the Christ. It is Him, Jesus, the Christ and His name,
that Satan would like so very much to obliterate from the face of the earth,
but that will never totally happen; because the very next verse (Revelation
19:20) tells us the end of the matter. “And the beast was taken, and
with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him (the beast), with which he DECEIVED them that had
received the mark of the beast, and them that worshiped his image (everything that is of the spirit of the world; the beast). These both
were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. ” “But praise be to God, He is still on the
throne.”
Oh America! How
many things have transpired in the last few decades to bring down your
greatness. You have banned the true God, and His Son, Jesus, the Christ of God from
your schools. The devil’s workers have used your wonderful freedoms to promote
everything but the truth of God and of Jesus Christ. I could hardly
believe my ears last night as I heard on a news program that the name of Jesus
Christ, the only hope we have of you retaining the title of “Christian” nation,
had been beeped out on a program carried by one of the major national TV
networks; lest it should offend someone. Well, I must tell you that I was offended
“because” it was beeped out. And so much more so, what about God, and His only
begotten of a fleshly body Son, Jesus the Christ, who suffered and died that
your citizens might be saved from a devil’s hell. Do you think, or even care,
that perhaps “they” might be offended as well. God says, “If I shut up heaven
that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I
send pestilence among MY PEOPLE” (II
Chronicles 7:13). Why would God do such a thing? It never happened until
His people first turned away from Him. This happened time and again to Israel
of old, but God was always merciful when Israel repented and met His
requirements. And what were His requirements? The very next verse gives the
answer. “If MY PEOPLE, … (who) …are called by my
name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land” (II
Chronicles 7:14). Joel cried out in his day, “That which the
palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left
hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten” (Joel
1:4). The land would be stripped bare, but the word of exhortation (the
answer to the problem) was,
“Gird
yourselves, and lament, ye priests: howl, ye ministers of the altar: come, lie
all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the meat offering and the
drink offering is withholden from the house of your
God. Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the
inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the
LORD” (Joel 1:13-14). Chapter 2
seems to be, not only to those of Joel’s day, but, the church of these last
days. Please remember that the natural before Calvary often pertains to the
spiritual after Calvary. That is to say: natural Zion (Mt. Zion) and natural
Israel of that day, now pertains to the church, the spiritual
Zion, “…the
(spiritual) Israel of God” (Romans 9:6; Galatians 6:16). The palmerworm, the locust,
the cankerworm and the caterpillar all represent spiritual, demonic,
principalities and powers that have come to strip the church spiritually; just
as the natural insects stripped the natural crops of natural Israel. Sadly
enough, they have done a good job. The church of America has become so much
like the world around it that it has lost all of its influence on those
outside its immediate domain and most on those within. Instead of the church
influencing the world, the world has influenced the church.
Because of this, America, your land has become home to more wickedness than
could ever have been imagined by your founders. The enemy’s of men’s souls have
perverted your wonderful freedom to be a license to indulge in every kind of sinful,
wickedness and uncleanness. Modern thinking seems to be, “It’s not sin if its
legal.” Why do your entertainment industries have to rate their programming. If something is not appropriate for children
then it’s not appropriate for adults either. This double standard only tells
children that all of the filthy, lustful, sinful things that adults
watch after they are sent to bed is OK once they are older; then, they too can
indulge in all of the sinful things their parents do. The bumper
stickers say, “don’t drink and drive” or “drink responsibly,” but I say, “don’t
drink at all.” Nevertheless, all of these things are a part of God’s “…great army….” The judgments of God are being brought upon us
because of the tolerance (indifference), and permissiveness of the church
itself (Romans 1:18-32). This,
however, is just the beginning.
The progression
is this. First, God gives “…up to uncleanness
through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between
themselves” (Romans 1:24). Secondly, “…God… (gives) them up unto vile affections: for even… (the men and the) women did change the natural use into that which is
against nature” (Romans 1:26). And thirdly, “…even as they did
not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind, to do (all) those things which
are not convenient”
(not fit; Romans 1:28).
All of these things are in the world,
and all of these things happened to natural Israel, but as all of us well know,
these things have also filled your churches, America.
So what is the
answer? It’s the same today as it was in Joel’s day. “Therefore also now,
saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,
and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your HEART,
and not your garments, and turn unto (Me,) the LORD your God:
for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and
repenteth Him of the evil (which He has
sent upon you). Who knoweth if He will return and repent, and leave a
blessing behind…; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your
God? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather
the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and
the bride out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep
between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD,
and GIVE NOT thine heritage to REPROACH, that the heathen should rule over
them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is… (your)
…God? Then will the LORD be
jealous for His land, and pity His people. Yea, the LORD will answer and say
unto His people, Behold, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil, and ye shall
be satisfied therewith: and I will no more make you a REPROACH among the heathen” (Joel 2:12-19).
I’m praying for
you America, that all of your citizens who “…are called by… (the name of the true and living God; the
God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ) …shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek… (His) …face, and turn from their wicked
ways; (for) then (and only then) will… (He)
…hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (which, for this message, is America; II Chronicles 7:14).
May God save you America, through a great revival of His church.
This message was
originally written in the 1990’s. Sadly,
I do not believe America can be saved today as a nation. There is still hope for the individual however,
if he, or she, will turn to the Lord and call unto Him in repentance, and
believe the gospel, He will yet save you.
I must, however, warn against procrastination. The time
of great tribulation is at the very door:
Matthew 24:21-34
21 For then shall be
great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this
time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days
should be shortened, there should no
flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall
say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it
not.
24 For there shall arise
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told
you before.
26 Wherefore if they
shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not.
27 For as the lightning
cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be.
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there
will the eagles be gathered together.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be shaken:
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all
the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he shall send his
angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 Now learn a parable
of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is
nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that
it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This
generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
JDG
Message 20 - Dear America,
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