The Only Way to Escape the Judgment of God upon America

It is scary to pursue truth because it often forces us to face our fears and pain. The truth is not necessarily safe or comfortable. Many people prefer to leave it alone. Our relationship with truth affects every area of our lives. It determines the rise and fall of nations, and will be a main topic at the Last Judgment.

Jesus said that our eyes were blind, our ears deaf, and our hearts hardened against truth. (Matthew 13:13-15) Isaiah the prophet, speaking for God the Father, announced Jesus’s coming ministry centuries prior to our Lord’s birth.

…”It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” Isaiah 49:6 (NASB)

Jesus said about himself:

I have come as Light into the world , so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness. John 12:46 (NASB)

This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. ₂₀   For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. John 3:19-20 (NASB)

Why do we so often refuse to admit when we are wrong? Why do alcoholics and drug addicts have such difficulty admitting their problem? Why are many of us so afraid to go to the doctor?

We don’t want to be exposed because we expect that people will reject and condemn us, if they find out what we are really like, just as we have so often done to others!. Most of us instinctively know that we deserve to be punished, and we are embarrassed and ashamed of our sins and failures.  Often we are able to hide our sins from other people, and sometimes we think we also can hide from God, but that is merely seeking to avoid the inevitable. We can be sure that our sin will find us out. (Numbers 32:23) We see God exposing sin right and left, and we have not even come to Last Judgment yet.

Humankind’s descent into the world of chaotic suffering and evil can be traced back to the lie that was heard, embraced, and acted upon in the Garden of Eden. Satan deceived Adam and Eve into believing that God is not to be trusted and that doing what God forbids is actually a good thing. The devil told them that they could disobey God without suffering any negative consequences. They would not die! What a lie!

Embracing the lie caused them and us to die. Ever since, their descendants, including us, have struggled with truth and lies.

Every time we choose to reject or go astray from God’s instructions in the Bible, we participate in Adam’s and Eve’s sin and bring upon ourselves similar negative consequences. We have all done this and have reaped the fruit of our disobedience. The formula is simple: believing lies leads to acting upon them (sin) and brings suffering, sorrow, destruction and death into our lives.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. Romans 1:18 (ESV)

The Bible calls such suppression of truth a stronghold or fortress.

We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. ₅  We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (NLT)

Even when the truth is presented to us, we fend it off with our proud arguments and faulty reasoning. When we do this, we cannot see truth. It is self-imposed spiritual blindness, which the devil more than willingly helps us maintain. It is one thing to be deceived by another, but when we deceive ourselves, our situation is dire. When we stubbornly refuse the truth over and over again, eventually God gives us over to what we want – a mind devoid of truth which is unable to properly think any longer. Isn’t this what we see all around us? It’s happening, folks, right now in our nation.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, Romans 1:28 (NASB)

Since people and groups of people -governments, nations, etc. – are at war with God and reject his authority to tell them what to do, it is unavoidable that over time nations and other entities, unless constantly brought back to obedience, will drift away from God and his truth. This means they will distance themselves from his blessings and protection, too. Once the drift has begun, it can quickly escalate.

When individuals suppress truth, it gives sin a foothold that is difficult to break. When an entire culture does it, its demise is in sight. Can you see that the United States is now in mortal danger. We have spurned the God who before protected us. Yes, we have been really wrong about some very big things over our history, but despite all that, our people generally trusted in God. Increasingly, this is no longer the case.

Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? ₂  The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, ₃  “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” ₄  He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. ^₅  Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, ₆  “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.” Psalm 2:1-6 (NASB)

Groups of people (mobs) often do far worse things than most of the individuals comprising it would do on their own. The mob feels safe in its numbers, believing it can avoid being accountable or brought to justice. It is as when we join a group of cars on the interstate exceeding the speed limit, thinking that being part of the group makes it okay or safe.  The old CBers called it a convoy. If everyone is doing it, surely it’s okay to go with the flow of the traffic. Right? It may be generally true on the highway, but not when it comes to God! God will not only hold individuals accountable. He will judge entire nations. If this does not put the fear of God in you, I don’t know what will!

Since the Supreme Court Decision of Roe v. Wade on January 22, 1973, we have held ourselves up as a paragon of freedom and equality for women without batting an eye regarding the mass murder of over 60 million unborn defenseless babies. This is right now, under our watch, with our silent consent! Consider that this number equals some estimates of the total number of lives lost in WWII! Let that sink in! We should be appalled, ashamed, aghast, disgusted, and fearful. The freedom to kill an unborn baby is the law of the land, but that does not make it just or right!

Women’s reproductive rights is a euphemism for the mother’s right to terminate the life of the defenseless baby in her womb. That’s murder, no matter how we slice and dice it. Whether or not you ever consented personally to an abortion, we are guilty as a nation.

We used the same argument to justify slavery and the ethnic cleansing of Native Americans. Dehumanizing those we enslave, oppress, and murder is an age old tactic. We now look back with sorrow on our forefathers’ reasoning and actions. How will future generations judge us? More importantly, how will God judge us? God is the defender of the helpless and innocent. Does it not scare you to think how deserving of judgment our nation is? And this is only one sin!

When the Allied forces liberated German concentration camps, the evil that had been perpetrated by the Nazis under the cloak of darkness came to light. Here is a brief account.

After leaving Ohrdruf, Eisenhower wrote to Chief of Staff General George Marshall, attempting to describe things that “beggar description.” The evidence of starvation and bestiality “were so overpowering as to leave me a bit sick,” Bradley later wrote about the day: “The smell of death overwhelmed us.” Patton, whose reputation for toughness was legendary, was overcome. He refused to enter a room where the bodies of naked men who had starved to death were piled, saying “he would get sick if he did so,” Eisenhower reported. “I visited every nook and cranny.” It was his duty, he felt, “to be in a position from then on to testify about these things in case there ever grew up at home the belief … that the stories of Nazi brutality were just propaganda.” (Seemingly, he intuited then that these crimes might be denied.)

Eisenhower issued an order that American units in the area were to visit the camp. He also issued a call to the press back home. A group of prominent journalists, led by the dean of American publishers, Joseph Pulitzer, came to see the concentration camps. Pulitzer initially had “a suspicious frame of mind,” he wrote. He expected to find that many of “the terrible reports” printed in the United States were “exaggerations and largely propaganda.” But they were understatements, he reported.

Within days, Congressional delegations came to visit the concentration camps, accompanied by journalists and photographers. General Patton was so angry at what he found at Buchenwald that he ordered the Military Police to go to Weimar, four miles away, and bring back 1,000 civilians to see what their leaders had done, to witness what some human beings could do to others. The  MP ‘s were so outraged they brought back 2,000. Some turned away. Some fainted. Even veteran, battle-scarred correspondents were struck dumb. In a legendary broadcast on April 15, Edward R. Murrow gave the American radio audience a stunning matter-of-fact description of Buchenwald, of the piles of dead bodies so emaciated that those shot through the head had barely bled, and of those children who still lived, tattooed with numbers, whose ribs showed through their thin shirts. “I pray you to believe what I have said about Buchenwald,” Murrow asked listeners. “I have reported what I saw and heard, but only part of it; for most of it I have no words.” He added, “If I have offended you by this rather mild account of Buchenwald, I am not in the least sorry.” ( Link )

Yet, today there are those who deny that the Holocaust ever happened! Abortions take place in the secrecy of doctors’ offices and hospitals, but America must own its sin. It is horrific to watch video evidence of babies in the womb being dismembered and extracted. That is why Planned Parenthood actively suppresses the truth. But God knows.

The German people had to face up to the evil they and their leaders perpetrated on the world. They only did it after being devastated by enemy armies. What will it take to makes us own up to our sins?

The hypothesis of evolution is a prime example of the suppression of truth, which is being done worldwide. The Bible teaches that God’s existence is clearly evident through observing of his creation. In other words, we have to be willingly blind to miss it.

…that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. ²⁰  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen , being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:18-20 (NASB)

If man evolved, we are accountable to no one for how we live our lives. We are our own god. No wonder this lie is so popular. It appears to give solid footing to the desire to throw off God’s rule.

The Bible teaches that God created us as he saw fit, which is male and female, which is determined at conception and penetrates all the way down to the chromosomal level.

God sovereignly chooses for us our sex, intelligence, physical strength, race, family, nation, looks, general health, etc. None of us chose to be born and none of us can stop the aging or death process. We cannot undo gravity or much of anything God has built into his creation, much less our gender.

Rather than accept how God made us, we want to change it. We can change our dress. We can surgically alter our bodies. We can inject unnatural levels of hormones, but we cannot change ourselves at the most fundamental level. Our  chromosomes tell the true story.

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. ²  Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. Romans 13:1-2 (NASB)

There is a place for conscientious objection and even making a stand against tyranny, but generally we should submit to authority, unless it commands us to disobey God. In the Bible, God severely deals with rebels. In the United States, our rebellion is much deeper than half our nation rejecting our president and most of the media ranting against him continuously.

There has been an ongoing war against God’s authority for decades now. Under the cloak of separating church and state, enemies of God have removed Bible reading and prayers from our public schools, banned God talk at work, and forbidden coaches from praying with their teams. Christians who dare to speak out about their faith are openly mocked and persecuted.

My generation, the Boomers, began this current wave of rebellion in the 60s and 70s by casting off restraint sexually, experimenting with drugs, introducing various Eastern religions into the culture, and entertaining ideas of government overthrow espoused by such groups as the Weather Underground and SDS. People became increasingly unwilling to acknowledge authority and became uncomfortable with being in authority. Children were encouraged to be very informal with adults, corporal punishment was abandoned in favor of new unproven psychological methods, and society has only gotten more and more off track since then.

As a nation, we have turned our backs repeatedly on God and his truth. Right now we are locked in a battle for the soul of the nation. The momentum lies on the side of the rebellion against God. Many, if not most, of our leaders and influencers (educators and media) have gone over to Satan’s side by rejecting God and his truth.

It is increasingly coming into question whether we are any longer capable of responsible self-government. We are being set up for tyranny. Many of our citizens now believe that there is no God, no absolute truth, no ultimate authority, no coming judgment, and no everlasting consequences for rejecting God and disobeying him. They (we) could not be more wrong!

In a nation where most people have it fairly easy, at least in comparison to our forefathers and to others in less affluent nations. The more comfortable we are, the more likely we will be unconcerned about eternal things.

My own personal journey to God was a search for truth. I wanted to know if what the Bible says about Jesus and his resurrection is true or not. At one point, I called myself an agnostic, thinking that God cannot be known because I had not yet come to know him. How ludicrous, yet how common it is for people to suppose that what we think and have experienced determines reality.

Paul wrote that people grope about in their search for God. (Acts 17:27) Spiritually blind people fall all over themselves and unseen obstacles in their pursuit of reality and truth. We cannot find God on our own, but, if we seek him, he promises that we will find him. He makes sure of that!

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸   “ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Matthew 7:7-8 (NASB)

The pride of man resists God and his truth. It comes up with all sorts of alternate versions of reality that will allow us to dodge truth and continue in our rebellion.

Humility teaches us that we are created beings, not independent operators. Humility teaches us that unless we admit our need for God, we will be lost in the downward spiral of death and deception. It takes humility to admit we need help, and that help is found in Jesus!

Imagine how the Nazi leaders felt as they faced charges at Nuremberg! Some were unrepentant, but I imagine most were afraid and ashamed as their evil deeds were exposed and their sentences imposed. I imagine that many of them felt horribly guilty. Saying, “I am sorry” did not fix things. Justice was meted out. The Last Judgment will be even more terrifying and severe.

Near is the great day of the LORD , Near and coming very quickly; Listen, the day of the LORD ! In it the warrior cries out bitterly. ¹⁵  A day of wrath is that day, A day of trouble and distress, A day of destruction and desolation, A day of darkness and gloom, A day of clouds and thick darkness, ¹⁶  A day of trumpet and battle cry Against the fortified cities And the high corner towers. ¹⁷   I will bring distress on men So that they will walk like the blind, Because they have sinned against the LORD ; And their blood will be poured out like dust And their flesh like dung. ¹⁸  Neither their silver nor their gold Will be able to deliver them On the day of the LORD’S wrath; And all the earth will be devoured In the fire of His jealousy, For He will make a complete end, Indeed a terrifying one, Of all the inhabitants of the earth. Zephaniah 1:14-18 (NASB)

What will we do on that day? Will there be any place to hide? Will there be any safe place?

He sees through all pretext and lies. No one can hide from his gaze. No one can escape his discerning and judgment. He knows the thoughts and intents of the heart as well as everything we have ever said or done. He knows what we did not do, when we should have. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

His standards do not bend. His righteousness is inflexible. His justice is firm and fierce. His wrath will be released upon all those who reject the truth and refuse his mercy offered through the Gospel in Christ.

Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;  9   that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,  10   and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because  they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.  11   For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false,  12    in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth , but took pleasure in wickedness.   2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 (NASB)

But that is in the future, and this is now. We yet have the opportunity of coming into the light of God’s truth about our sin and finding mercy. We can know him as the one who said:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28 (NASB)

Or we can reject his generous offer of forgiveness and one day meet him as the glorious Son of Man coming in the clouds to judge all people, who will say to us:

…Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; Matthew 25:41 (NASB)

This is the same Jesus speaking to different groups of people. It’s our choice of what we will hear. Regardless, we will all bow before him. Why not do it now willingly? Don’t wait until you are forced to cower before him awaiting his judgment and justice!

Jesus wants to liberate us from death, destruction, deception, and sin. He said:

… “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ₃₂   and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31-32 (ESV)

Jesus faced the truth about sin when he went to the cross. The truth about our sin nailed the Truth of God to the cross and put him to death. The truth about sin poured out God’s wrath on the innocent Lamb of God who willingly took upon himself the just penalty for our sins. The Truth died that day to provide us with eternal life. The only way for anyone to escape the same God’s righteous wrath against sin is to put his or her faith in what Christ has accomplished on our behalf and to pledge our loyalty and faithfulness to the Truth. This is the only way to be set free. It takes courage and humility and faith.

The path to truth is narrow and difficult, but definitely worth it!

For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matthew 7:14 (NASB)

The society in which we live may be hell bent on going down the wide road to destruction, but we don’t have to join them!

Will you humble yourself before the Lord today, if you have not done so already? Will you courageously face the truth about your sin? Will you admit that you have been a rebel trying to live independently from God? Will you confess that you deserve condemnation and death for your sin? Will you accept by faith what Christ did on your behalf? Will you confess that Jesus, the Truth, is both Lord and Savior? Will you receive mercy before it is too late?

The Gospel message is two-fold. First, it is the announcement that Jesus came to die for our sins in order to reconcile us to God and give us eternal life. Secondly, it is the proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead as Lord of Lords, and he will come again to judge all people, living and dead. We are all accountable to him for how we live. The Gospel calls us to repent from our rebellion against God and received forgiveness and reconciliation. It also calls us to surrender every area of our lives to the Messiah King.  Followers of Christ are to model the surrendered life and call others to follow in our steps.

Lord Jesus, I  believe that you are the Way, the Truth, and the Life and my only way to the Father. I ask you to forgive me for my sins. I deserve judgment, but I gladly receive mercy from you. I deserve death, but I gladly receive eternal life from you. I deserve to be eternally cut off from God, but I gladly accept my reconciliation to Father God through you. I confess that you are the risen Lord of Lords who is coming back again to judge all people.  I thank you that I now can confidently look forward to that day because you have put me in right standing with God the Father. Thank you for giving me your Holy Spirit to live inside me forever and transform me into your likeness. Thank you for setting me free! Help me to serve you the rest of my days on earth and forever in heaven.  Help me to be a faithful witness to Jesus, proclaimer of the Gospel, and discipler of men. Amen.

The Only Way to Escape the Judgment of God upon America

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