"For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel." That verse is 1 Peter 4:17 from the ESV. There are various interpretations. It is addressing every believer who has read it since Peter penned it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit....but I do believe that it also has an eschatological interpretation....prophecy....as so much of God's Word speaks to the present in every church age but it also is specific for the end of the end times.
Forty years ago this verse was brought up often....but forty years ago we were in the midst of a minor revival. The message that we saw in this was that God was about to bring judgment on the entire world.....and on America....and it would begin with us in the church.Well....looking back on it folks....we interpreted this verse correctly....for that is exactly what has transpired over the past four decades.
The world is on the brink of war. If you read the news closely you will have seen a number of comments in the past few days alone where both world leaders and people in our intelligence community have come out and said....as one person put it....that we are currently in a pre-war stage. World War is judgment. How else can that be viewed?
America certainly has also been judged. As I put it in a post from two years ago..."There is a message for us in the third chapter....(of Jeremiah)....if we would but consider it. 'Israel' can be likened to the 'left' in America.....and 'Judah' to the 'right.' The Democrat Party fell fast and hard and first. We watched this with great dismay to say the least....but then`we fell also....Yet her treacherous sister did not fear....but went and played the harlot also....only pretending to have become God-fearing....as the words in Jeremiah 3:10 described it....and then here is the real kicker in the very next verse....Backsliding Israel has shown herself more righteous than treacherous Judah."
Then there is judgment in the church. There is as most of you know....an Elizabeth Barrett Browning sonnet that begins...."How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." To paraphrase that as it pertains to the contemporary church....it should say to God...."How have I rebelled against Thee....let me count the ways....I have completely trampled the Lord's Day....turning it into a day of sport. I have determined not to separate from the world and its entertainments....but to find excuses why I do not have to. I have filled huge auditoriums....raising my hands in worship....to the false teachings of false teachers. I now trust in politics over trusting in Thee. I really do not want Jesus to return right now....maybe in twenty years....and I have found an easier way to be saved then having to be what they used call....born again." Thus in our actions it is shown that the glory of God has departed!
So we have in the church....lost the message and the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ....and we have lost discernment....that would have informed us on how we lost the message on the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
One judgment on us from God that would have surprised us back in the mid-80s....is that we....on our side of politics....led by evangelicals....had followed and put into power a genuine biblical false prophet! That being Donald Trump of course. And folks I am putting this rather mildly here....for Trump is much worse than a mere false prophet!
The purpose of this judgment on the church is that it might purify us....as we....you and I and all of us....will eventually see what we have done....and what we have become....and as Jeremiah wrote in 3:14,15...."Return, O faithless children......And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."
Yes gentlemen....you pastors who prophesy peace....and tell others to trust in God....yet you do not trust in His warnings....faithful in many things but not in humility....God may awaken you....along with us....and restore to you the calling of shepherds.
