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The Book of Revelation describes an angel offering the smoke of much incense mixed with the prayers of the saints on the altar before God's throne. (Rev. 8:3:4). Immediately after this beautiful picture is described, the wrath of God is unleashed on the earth, as a censer, filled with fire from the altar is hurled to the earth, unleashing the seven trumpet judgments which contain also the seven bowl judgments. (v.5-6). While the prayers of the saints are described as a sweet incense before God, I can only imagine what a stench to His holy nostrils the wickedness of mankind must be.
Three items in particular which were in the news over the past few days caught my attention. The first was one in which I was caught right in the middle, so to say. Last week I had the privilege of attending the Watchmen on the Wall Briefing in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Family Research Council. They are a class organization, led by some classy people who love the Lord and who love this country. During the 3-day briefing, those who had made arrangements, were given an opportunity to visit with our congressmen on Capital Hill. Since both Senator Lieberman (D-CT) and Rep. Courtney (D-CT) were busy with legislative matters, I had arranged to meet with their legislative aid and chief of staff, respectively. I was received with courtesy and was allowed to read Isaiah 59 in each office, pray for the congressmen and their staffs, and to make a plea for the nation to be returned to a foundation of righteousness. In short, I did everything that God laid on my heart to do.
To my dismay, Friday's news revealed that the House of Representatives had voted to repeal the Military's mandate of "Don't ask; Don't tell." This policy, implemented during the Clinton administration, while a far cry from the moral virtue of years gone by, it still allowed the military to function with a modicum of moral decency. So that's stench #1.
Today I received a video of vicious beatings suffered by innocent Christians in Asam, India. This was followed shortly thereafter by a very disturbing article concerning child trafficking and prostitution - also from India. The radical Hindus apparently are allowed to go on rampages with little or no intervention on the part of the police. The video showed unarmed people being beaten to death by club-wielding fanatics, while the police just stood on the fringes. Later, the police came in and supervised the removal of the corpses! If that isn't bad enough, www.Examiner.com of Hartford reported "hundreds of children are trafficked to Amur, Rajasthan region from Delhi and other regions in India. According to the report, girls as young as six months old are trafficked into the villages, where they were given sexual hormone shots, oxytocin, to accelerate their sexual maturity to enter prostitution. ......The Rajasthan police denied the allegation." These are stench #2 and #3.
Through the third lens of Scripture: How can you possibly extract anything biblical from such nasty news, and then publish it on a site entitled "End-Times Encouragement News?" My answer to that, in the vernacular, is that God is not a "sandbagger." Webster defines the slang use of this term as "to deceive (an opponent) by deliberately playing poorly. Some of you may remember Paul Newman, in the movie "Cool Hand Luke" getting his knuckles busted because he "sandbagged" by playing pool poorly when the stakes were low, suckering people in to bet the big bucks, only to clear the table. God does not do that. He does not sucker us into "summer time and the living is easy" life styles, only to hammer us when we are ill-prepared. That's the ploy of the devil, and I hate to say it, but too many sermons feed into his game plan. Godly encouragement comes from looking with open eyes at the things God has said concerning the end-times and preparing accordingly.
The majority of congress is acting with abject stupidity. How else can you describe educated, experienced people who defy nature and nature's God, by imposing their own warped thinking on our nation's military. There are a lot of commandments in the Old Testament which involve ceremonial law - those very detailed matters of worship which all pointed to the Messiah. Jesus was/is that Messiah and He fulfilled the entire Law. Consequently, Christians do not embrace any form of sacrificial worship. Many of the other commandments were in the category of "good advice" from the all-wise Creator. Obey them and you will reap natural benefits; disobey them and you will reap natural detriments. These include such matters as diet, sanitation, crop rotation and sewing patches on garments. Other commandments are what we would describe as God's moral law. As Christians we do not always live up to the high standards of God's moral law, but we should always aspire to do so. And we must never call God's moral law as evil and man's substitute as good (Isaiah 5:20). God calls "man lying with a man as one lies with a woman" (homosexuality) a detestable thing. (Leviticus 20:13)
Now, here's a passage of Scripture which describes those who thing that repeal of "Don't ask; don't tell" is something noble. "For though they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.... Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.... Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men.... Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:21-32). This sounds awfully harsh, perhaps making the one who quotes it appear over the top in piety. So please let me remind you that in this same letter to the Romans we read: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption which came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24). The problem is not that homosexuality is so much greater than the sin of some straight person; it's that the sin of homosexuality has been normalized and even placed in a category of special rights and privileges, and now is being forced on our military. This is just plain wrong! I urge you to let your congressmen know so.
The beatings of innocent, defenseless people is nothing but demonic. There is no logical explanation of such behavior. Jesus gives an apt description of the spirit behind such horrific activities and the people who commit them. "You are of your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies." (John 8:44) For us who have not yet faced such persecution, let us "Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as you yourselves were suffering." (Hebrews 13:3) Keep in mind Jesus' promise: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven..." (Matthew 5:10-12)
And what can we say regarding the poor little ones being used to satisfy the lusts and greed of men? Pray for them as Hebrews 13:3 exhorts, and remember that those who harm such little ones will reap their due reward (Matthew 18:6). The entire godless economic system, which the Bible calls "Babylon the Great" will suddenly come crashing down under the wrath of God (Revelation 18:2, 17). At the end of the list of all the merchants who suffer loss are those who "traffick in the bodies and souls of men." (Revelation 18:13) Divine justice will be satisfied, and the innocent little one, beginning with those conceived in their mother's wombs will be recompensed, for "...in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10)
Be encouraged by Christ, that you might encourage one another. Rev. Les Young is the founder and director of Encouragement for End-Times Ministries, www.endtimesencouragement.com His teachings concerning the end-times and how we must live can be accessed from the website or directly at www.endtimesencouragement.blogspot.com
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