God Loves… Himself

We have been looking at the state of the Church in modern America. It is not a pretty sight, but we need a good dose of Scripture on these issues in order to be delivered from all the deceptive activities and numbers that are being presented. Isaiah 63 gives us an awful picture of the Church in America if we care to look:

17 Why, O LORD, do You cause us to stray from Your ways And harden our heart from fearing You? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage. 18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary for a little while, Our adversaries have trodden it down. 19 We have become like those over whom You have never ruled, Like those who were not called by Your name (Isaiah 63:17-19).

This text gives us a snapshot and some guidelines that we can use as a yardstick to set along side of the Church and measure or determine something of the judgment that has been poured out on Her. The first thing to that should shake us to attention is the real cause of the wrath of the judgment. It is God Himself. The text says that God is the cause behind the Israelites straying from His ways. This is something very important and even utterly vital, though ignored in the modern day. The Church has strayed from the ways of God because She was already under the judgment of God. When we see so many individual churches that have fallen into ways of foolishness and biblical infidelity, we can know that judgment has already arrived upon them. The theology or creed of a “church” matters little in one sense if it is not following the ways of God. After all, it is still not following the ways of God. Any group that is of fallen humanity, whether Reformed or not, can have idolatrous hearts, self-centered and worldly ways that lead them to follow all sorts of man-centered actions and plans.

We are taught by Romans 1 that the wrath of God is revealed against all ungodliness which tells us that this wrath is revealed on a constant basis. We don’t have to wait for judgment day for the wrath of God to come, it is already among us. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness” (Rom 1:18). Notice that this text does not limit this to professing unbelievers alone. We can look at Revelation 1-3 and note the promised judgments on the churches there and know for certain that God judges churches. A professing church can also suppress the truth in unrighteousness as well since idolatry in worship and anything else is unrighteousness. Without Christ in truth all that a church or individual does is unrighteousness. But if we go on in the text of Romans 1, we note that God punishes sin with more sin. God turns hearts over to sin as judgment and punishment for sin. God hardens hearts and turns them over to more sin. Why is that? While it may not be a popular thought, sin is the worst possible judgment on this earth. Sin provokes God to wrath now, it brings judgment now, it brings all kinds of misery upon the sinner now, and all of that increases the wrath of God for eternal judgment.

The Church in America must wake up and realize that its methodologies and practices that are not according to the ways of God, and that regardless of the numbers of people and the offerings it brings in, this is a sign of the judgment of God and not His blessing. The Church in America wants political power, moral influence, large numbers and offerings, and it wants its people to have happy, successful and fulfilling lives. That is nothing more than what the world offers. We must learn that church growth is not just about the numbers of people in the building, but the spiritual growth of the people. We must learn that spiritual growth is not just about how much people learn about the Bible, it is how much they know and walk with God. We must learn that worship is not just about people feeling wonderful about the entertaining songs and sermons on Sunday mornings, it is about entering into the presence of a holy God and being broken in His presence and adoring His glory.

Another sign of the wrath and judgment of God from Isaiah 63:17-19 is when God hardens people’s hearts from fearing Him. While this would bring a smile to many people in the land if they read this since they believe it is either a form of neurosis to fear God or that God is love and so we should not fear Him, yet the very fact that people think something is wrong with those who fear God is a sign of the judgment of God. In Genesis 20:11 Abraham thought that there was no fear of God in Gerar and that Abimelech and his people would kill him. Deuteronomy 6:13-24 shows us that we are to keep the commandments out of fear of God while Jesus taught us that without love for God we cannot keep them. This shows that Calvin was on the right path when he said that true piety was where the love and the fear of God met. In fact there is no true love for God without a reverential fear of Him and there is no true reverential fear of Him without a love for Him. The two go together. If the Lord hardens hearts from fearing Him, then there is no love for Him either. Deuteronomy 10:12 puts fear and love together in keeping the commandments.

Psalm 36:1 puts it in a terrifying way: “Transgression speaks to the ungodly within his heart; There is no fear of God before his eyes.” The ungodly have no fear of God, but true believers are to pray for the Lord’s name to be hallowed which is to glorify it and treat it with reverence and awe. There is no acceptable worship apart from this fear of the Lord either: “Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe” (Hebrews 12:28). When the Lord hardens the hearts of people, some are given over to open transgression and others to forms of worship that are not acceptable. If we have eyes to see, what we see in this nation is many people losing any sense of shame and being given over to open sin. We also see many “churches” that are given over to all kinds of entertainment in the music and all sorts of light teaching filled with jokes and stories. There is no sense of the fear of God in the world or in the Church today. That is a sign that the judgment of God is upon us even now.

The ways of God that are kept by those with tender hearts are really quite simple. In the church the Word of God is to be proclaimed with the glory of God and the Gospel at the center. In the church there should be time for prayer and not just for a little lip service. There must be time of true worship and not just noise that excites people and gets their feelings flowing. The ways of God are always the ways of true holiness and seeking His face and glory. While seeking the face of the Lord with humility, love and holiness obtained by grace is not easy, it is the way that the Lord sets out. The believer is to live and walk by faith rather than the things that the senses are able to obtain and do. One thing that means is that the believer is to live and walk by what faith receives which is grace. The believer is to be strengthened by grace and not by the things of the world. When a church is not living by the strength that grace gives in the fear of the Lord, it is under the judgment of God.

There are so many little churches in the world that believe that they are under the judgment of God because they are not large and are not growing. They look at the mega-“churches” and wish they could be like them. But they are caught up by numbers and glamour when they think like that. Perhaps not all mega-“churches” are the same, but the appearance is that the vast majority of them are given over to things that are not following the ways of the Lord and there certainly does not appear to be a true reverential fear of God. It is far better to follow the ways of the Lord and be small rather than to be large and outwardly successful and yet be utterly blind to the judgment of God upon you. That does not mean that a small church is being spiritually blessed, but simply to say that nickels and noses can be a deceptive way to determine the blessings of God. As Jonathan Edwards preached in a sermon entitled Those Whom God Hates, He Often Gives Plenty of Earthly Things To, God will give some people many earthly things and that is His judgment. A church that has plenty of people and money might well be under the judgment of God rather than the blessings of God. That would be still another sign of judgment if the church thought its numbers, property and money were a blessing when in fact it was judgment. That is spiritual blindness.

John 3:36 teaches (just down from John 3:16) with no shame that the wrath of God abides on unbelievers. What happens when a “church” fills its pews with unbelievers in the name of religion with a false and an ear-tickling Gospel? A true church consists of true believers in Christ. When a professing church is filled with professing believers, it is doing nothing but bringing the wrath of God into it. First, it is bringing those into its midst who are under the wrath of God and proclaiming them as being under the blessing of God. Second, it brings those in who are under the dominion of the devil and have them make decisions for the “church.” Third, in doing so the theology of the “church” has been watered down to that which is less than Christian. Fourth, what should be true worship is now nothing more than idolatry. Fifth, church discipline is not being exercised and as has been said in the past that when discipline leaves Christ leaves. A “church” like that is under the awful judgment of God.

Straying from His ways can be a church resorting to entertainment, user friendly ways and all sorts of methodology that is not from Scripture and not in line with biblical doctrine. This leads to large crowds, much activity, and perhaps financial giving. However, this is not a sign of blessing; it is a sign of judgment. There is much to lament over regarding spiritual things in America. A program will not help in the slightest. Spending more money on it will not help. Conferences will not help. More entertainment will not help. Only God can return God to church.

Martin Luther was a man that was loved by many and yet hated by many others. The reason that he was loved and hated at the same time is because he was a man that spoke the truth boldly and did not know what it meant to back away from his convictions. At times Luther was too bombastic and wrong. However, he was the man God chose to start the Reformation. His strengths were many and were his weaknesses at times. Luther had great insight into the nature of many things. One of them reflects on why the church is so terribly weak now and under the judgment of God. One of those signs of judgment is that men would rather have peace than stand for the truth.

In his book on The Bondage of the Will Luther shows how vital it is to stand for truth:

“You make it clear that this carnal peace and quiet seems to you far more important than faith, conscience, salvation, the Word of God, the glory of Christ, and God himself. Let me tell you, therefore-and I beg you to let this sink deep into your mind-I hold that a solemn and vital truth, of eternal consequence, is at stake in this discussion; one so crucial and fundamental that it ought to be maintained and defended even at the cost of life, though as a result the whole world should be, not just thrown into turmoil and uproar, but shattered in chaos and reduced to nothingness” (p. 90).

On the next page (91) he shows what happens if we don’t stand for truth: “For your teaching is designed to induce us, out of consideration for Popes, princes and peace, to abandon and yield up for the present the sure Word of God. But when we abandon that, we abandon God, faith, salvation, and all Christianity! How much sounder is Christ’s advice, that we should rather despise the whole world!” He said this about the teaching of the bondage of the will.

Luther preferred true peace rather than a carnal peace and quiet. It is so easy to desire peace and apply some verses of Scripture to that and seek for a peace. Conflict is hard. But as Luther points out, the Word of God, the glory of Christ, and God Himself are more important than peace. There are times when we will either have peace or God Himself. Luther was discussing the issue of the bondage of the will and how vital it was for the Gospel. The issue of the will is not mere metaphysical speculation or doctrinal niceties; it is at the very heart of the Gospel. It is a vital teaching because it is vital to the Gospel of grace alone through faith alone. According to Luther, if we choose peace rather than dispute over this teaching of Holy Writ we “abandon God, faith, salvation, and all Christianity.” This teaching is so important that we should be willing to die for it and watch the whole world be shattered. The Gospel is that important. A church and a leader in the church that will not stand for the Gospel (and according to Luther, the bondage of the will which is necessary for the Gospel) is under the judgment of God.

In what follows some texts will be given to show that the desire for peace can be a sign of the judgment of God.

11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. “Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old. 12 “Their houses shall be turned over to others, Their fields and their wives together; For I will stretch out My hand Against the inhabitants of the land,” declares the LORD. 13 “For from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is greedy for gain, And from the prophet even to the priest Everyone deals falsely. 14 “They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace” (Jeremiah 6).

It does not take a person with profound insight to see the application of this passage to the Church today. The wrath of God was going to be poured out on the physical nation because the people were greedy for gain (the US and the Church today?) and the religious leaders were healing the brokenness of God’s people superficially by declaring peace when there was no peace. When a false gospel is taught by any minister, that minister is crying peace when there is no peace. God’s judgment is on that minister because of a false gospel and all who do not truly believe the Gospel are under God’s wrath. It is also true that God hates religious hypocrisy.

8 “How can you say, ‘We are wise, And the law of the LORD is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes Has made it into a lie. 9 “The wise men are put to shame, They are dismayed and caught; Behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, And what kind of wisdom do they have? 10 “Therefore I will give their wives to others, Their fields to new owners; Because from the least even to the greatest Everyone is greedy for gain; From the prophet even to the priest Everyone practices deceit. 11 “They heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially, Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ But there is no peace. (Jeremiah 8).

Again we see a chilling text of Scripture. People had the Word of God but it was rejected in the sense that teachers of the day had changed it and declared peace when there was no peace. The Word of God is changed when the meaning is changed. We know what happened when the Church was Roman Catholic. It was taken into bondage by a teaching that was not true grace and ended up with indulgences and purgatory that enriched the religious leaders. Roman Catholicism preached peace with God to the people when there was no peace with God. Then God sent the Protestant Reformation. The core of the Gospel was recovered and proclaimed and so there was true peace with God. But what is going on with that Gospel today? There is a marked turn from it in our day and so also a turn from true peace.

This is a touchy issue and a politically incorrect one too. People are seeking peace with God on their own terms, which is not real peace. Denominational leaders are crying out for peace and yet true peace is only in the true Gospel. Where the Gospel is lacking there is no peace despite all the cries for peace among the leaders. Why is the judgment of God seen in a lack of spiritual understanding and darkness upon the Church? Why has the power of God been withdrawn and why are alliances and organizations not built around the Gospel that thundered forth during the Reformation? We must be careful to search the Scriptures and the leaders of the Reformation in our search for the true Gospel. It is possible that leaders within denominations and organizations within those denominations are more concerned with peace than with the Gospel itself despite words to the contrary.

9 “So My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations… 10 “It is definitely because they have misled My people by saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace. And when anyone builds a wall, behold, they plaster it over with whitewash; 11 so tell those who plaster it over with whitewash, that it will fall… 14 “So I will tear down the wall which you plastered over with whitewash and bring it down to the ground, so that its foundation is laid bare; and when it falls, you will be consumed in its midst. And you will know that I am the LORD. 15 “Thus I will spend My wrath on the wall and on those who have plastered it over with whitewash; and I will say to you, ‘The wall is gone and its plasterers are gone, 16 along with the prophets of Israel who prophesy to Jerusalem, and who see visions of peace for her when there is no peace,’ declares the Lord GOD” (Ezekiel 13)

We live in a time of much positive thinking and much crying out for gracious language and winsome behavior. We would be better off crying out to God for repentance of our sin of no love for His truth and weeping over our sin and hard hearts in our desires to be loved by others rather than to love God. Without the true Gospel there is no true peace. We have to be trying if we don’t know of the great problems within the SBC and other denominations. We can try to set out various programs and methods to cure the outward ills, but the real issue within any denomination has to do with God and His Gospel. It is God that we have to deal with. It is the betrayal of God and His Gospel that brings so much trouble to a denomination. The Roman Catholic devastation previous to Luther should show what religious dressing apart from the Gospel will do. The effort at trying to save Roman Catholicism was not based on the Gospel but other things. The real issue within the SBC and others is the Gospel as well.

To put it candidly, we are under the judgment of God. Part of the cause of the judgment and yet also the judgment itself is that so many have been told that they have peace when there is no peace. That is an issue of the Gospel. God’s glory is one with the true Gospel and all false gospels are a false witness to Him and His glory. When the Gospel is set aside because of political expediency or any other reason, it is still set aside. In that case we have abandoned God, faith, and Christianity. We can be very upset that the SBC has more people on its roles than attend, but the reason for that is because of the loss of the true Gospel. We can be upset because of many things within the SBC, but the real reason is because people are not gathered around the true God by the real Gospel. It matters little whether men and women claim to be Reformed if they do not have the historical and biblical Gospel. It matters little if we say that Luther and the Reformers were correct in their battle with Roman Catholicism if we don’t see as wrong the essential issue that the Reformation was over. Luther was willing to die and see the world descend into chaos because of his belief that the core of the Gospel itself was focused on the teaching of Scripture about the will. The Gospel that thundered in the Reformation was a Gospel with the bondage of the will at the core of it that enabled the Gospel to be by grace alone. Without that, we are not Reformed regardless of how many doctrines we have in common with the Reformers. Without it we still teach peace without a real peace. Without it we will remain under the judgment of God crying peace to those with no real peace. While it may be seen as less than gracious, it is the Gospel that is all of grace. While it will be seen as divisive, it is the Gospel of grace alone by which we may have peace with God and true unity with true believers. By grace, stand for the historical Gospel.

What does it mean for the Church or a church to be under judgment? Most think that would entail financial trouble or that numbers would go down or that programs would lose attention and that the church building would be struck with a “natural” disaster. Perhaps we might be afraid of a frontal attack by the devil in some way. However, the greatest thing that a professing church has to fear is God Himself. Last week we noted that one way that God sends judgment is by sending a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. This is not opposed to a lot of books and tapes being written as those could continue to pour off of the presses and still the words of the Lord not be heard by the writers or the hearers. This would not be opposed to works on theology and church growth. Numerical growth and many programs would not be opposite to the Lord sending a famine upon a church. That church might go around with lots of activity, but it would not hear the words of the Lord.

Another form of judgment is that the Lord withdraws Himself from a people and leaves them to their own devices in opposing the evil one. The scary thing about this is that after a few years true religion would no longer be known and the descent into darkness would hardly be noticed amongst the activities of the religious followers of the day. That appears to be one thing that is going on in modern America today. We have not seen a true revival beyond something that was short and localized in the United States since the time of the Civil War. We have virtually forgotten what true religion looks like and so we are caught up with what is catchy and new and what “works.” We are so Americanized that we think that a church that is busy and growing in numbers must be a true success and blessed of God. But when those activities are being carried out in the wisdom, power, and strength of men rather than the grace of God, the judgment of God is on that church rather than His blessing.

The Church must learn that it should fear the evil one, but that it should fear God far more. The evil one indeed fights against the people of the Lord, but the Lord uses the evil one to carry out His judgment and at times He uses him to train His people. The Israelites had huge problems over the years with idolatry. Who was it that they were to fear? The Lord God Almighty is the One they should have feared more and more. Hebrews 3:17 tells us one instance out of the many that the Lord judged His people: “And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness?” The bodies fell in judgment for forty years. The Church needs to learn that it must fear God more than anything else. Isaiah 63:10 gives us another instance where the people’s disobedience led to a surprising result. God became their enemy. “But they rebelled And grieved His Holy Spirit; Therefore He turned Himself to become their enemy, He fought against them.” The nation of Israel was chosen and called out of Egypt by God. Yet He dealt with them severely and was the enemy of His people at times. That may indeed be an unknown God in the modern theology of fluff, but God never changes. He still judges His people and those who bear His name. When a church has God as its enemy, it may still have outward success but it is hollow at best. It will have no spiritual foundation at all.

The Scripture gives us reasons why God is angry at times. Hebrews 3:10 gives one: “THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, ‘THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS.'” The text tells us that God was angry with that generation. It then gives us two reasons for why He was angry. One, they always go astray in their heart. It was not that they were outwardly immoral and disobedient, but that their hearts went astray. Their hearts went after the finer things of life and after other gods. But we must be very careful at this point and not just think that God was angry because of their sin. If we look very carefully at Romans 1:18-32 we will see that sin is the result of judgment too. God turns people over to a hardened heart. God judges sin with a hardened heart which leads to more sin and more of His anger.

The Church in modern America is certainly guilty of going astray in its heart. There are idols of money, success, influence in many places and spiritual pride. Men and women are flaunting themselves and their teachings on screens and in buildings across the country and in ways that demonstrate hearts that have gone astray. It may sound impossible to many people, but the Gospel is virtually lost in our day. Indeed there are many truncated messages thrown around with loose language, but that is hardly the Gospel. We have preaching with intellectual treatises and much on morality. We have people screaming about the King James Version. We have people screaming about all sorts of fundamentalist causes. We have preaching with all sorts of social justice causes. We have impassioned “sermons” about the need to help the poor and the need for political power. We have sermons on obtaining money for building programs. But where are the preachers who preach the Gospel itself with power in our day? Where are those who hear preaching and are truly broken in heart? Where are those who hear the glory of the Gospel and for joy will sell all? Instead of that we have people coming forward to have Jesus help them with a problem and make them rich. We are truly living in a spiritually impoverished day in the midst of a lot of spiritual activity.

The second reason that Hebrews 3:10 gives as something which makes God angry is because people do not know His ways. Why do people not know His ways? One reason is because they assume that the things they do in their own wisdom must be His way of doing things. A second reason is because people do not know the Word. A third reason is because people do not know God. What happens when the Spirit is grieved and God withdraws Himself from His people? They are given over to humanistic ways of doing things. They are also blind to what they are doing. Arminian theology and practices can be given to a lot of activity without God. Reformed theology can become barren intellectualism and yet its practice can also be given over to a lot of activity. No one is exempt from this sort of thing. People can study the Bible and receive terminal degrees in the Bible and theology and still not have the understanding from the Lord. This leads to people following their own wisdom while thinking it is the Lord’s. This leads to people not really knowing the Word and of course not truly knowing God. Any religious activity that flows from that will certainly not be acceptable to the Lord.

Another sign of the absence of the Lord’s presence and activity among His people is when people thirst for unity apart from truth. In the modern day it is thought that unity is of the utmost importance and so theology is watered down for the sake of agreement. There is no true unity apart from Christ who is the Truth (John 17:20-23) and there is no true worship apart from worship in spirit and truth. It is simply amazing to see people water down the truth for the sake of unity when in fact there can be no unity apart from the truth. Jesus never told us to seek unity at all costs and never said that there was anything special in unity apart from truth and Himself. Jesus Christ is Truth incarnate and how do we think that His body (the Church) can have unity apart from Him?

A lot of the problems that happen in the church are effects of the Lord Himself withdrawing. One is that people are given over to selfishness and pride. When the Lord gives people over to pride, it is a terrible judgment. God stands in battle alignment against the proud. It is a terrible judgment to be turned over to pride because a person is then in the hands of a proud person (self) that is blinded by pride, but even more that person is now fighting God. The Almighty has told us that He only gives grace to the humble, so when a person is turned over to pride that person is cut off of the grace of God. When a church is turned over to pride or leaders that are full of pride, that church is then given over to a terrible judgment. Pride comes before a fall. Contention comes because of pride. Why are the churches having so much trouble? It many cases it is because of pride.

It takes little insight to see that men are following their own wisdom in the church growth methods and in church planting methods. It is also obvious that the biblical practice of church discipline has given way to the wisdom of man as well. After all, if we practice church discipline it might run people off and offend others. Perhaps we should be more concerned with the Lord being offended and departing than human beings. Perhaps the Lord truly knows how to deal with sin in the church and that is church discipline. When will man learn from Scripture that his own wisdom is foolishness? When will man learn to bow before the Lord and plead for Christ to be his wisdom and strength? It will only be when man is humbled from following his own ways and the Lord returns in power. No one has the power to make God return and there is no way we can bring God under obligation to do so. He will only return by grace alone. We must begin to seek Him earnestly and asking for Him to show us our hearts.

The American Church is under the judgment of God and that is without question if one takes Scripture seriously. It is not when judgment will come, but it has been here for a long time. We cannot seek the blessing of God with human wisdom in humanistic methodologies and unity apart from truth. The only way to truly seek God is to seek Him for humility and brokenness of heart first. There is no true prayer or seeking the Lord apart from brokenness and humility. We are just kidding ourselves if we think that our religious activities are blessed of God if we are not truly broken of our pride and dependence on self and its strength. God only dwells with the humble and contrite of spirit. We live in a time when God has withdrawn and our perceived successes are actually His judgments. We can try any form of church government; get back to expositional preaching, church discipline and all sorts of biblical things. While those are good, there is only one place to start and that is on our faces in utter helplessness crying out for mercy. Orthodox teaching and means are of no avail apart from the presence of God. Without that, all is lost.

The Pharisees had a lot of orthodoxy, but they did not have the presence of God. Neither will all the orthodoxy in the world bring Him and His presence back in our day. We may slam the liberals all we want, but the real issue is pride of the heart. Some are liberal from pride and others are orthodox from pride. Many use modern and worldly means to get people into church buildings, and those who stand for the historical means sneer at that. But both have the same problem and that is pride. Whether the means are historical and biblical or modern and worldly is not the major issue. When either way is used in a proud and self-centered way, both are wicked and the presence of God will not return. Orthodox preaching from pride and self-centered motives is perhaps more wicked to God than liberalism. The god of liberalism is not the true God and so the true God is perhaps not as abused as the orthodox who use more truth about God than the liberals for their own proud and selfish goals. When the heart is proud, nothing that is done is acceptable before God. Without humility and brokenness, all is lost.

We are still at the very dawn of the New Year. In one sense the beginning of another year is simply another day, but yet January 1st is a marker of the clock that is ticking on each one of us. What is the state or status of the well-being of the Church? What is the state of the well-being of each church? Jesus has promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail or overpower His Church. That is of great comfort and encouragement in one sense, but in another it should sober us and make us more vigilant over the churches and the people in those churches. That text also tells us that the church is under constant attack. Are those things real to us when we are thinking of how to start or grow a church? We are in a war like it or not. A simple denouncement of the devil does no good at all. If we have no idea that we are in a war and are simply in a numbers war or a theological war, we are being beaten.

The people that the churches consist of are being attacked with various tactics and weapons. Do the leaders ever really think of that? Could it be that the churches are in bad shape because we have forgotten we are in a war with an enemy that is far smarter and far more powerful than we are? Why are people so immune to the things of God today? Why is it that people are so uncommitted to a church and virtually anything but themselves? Why is it that the people who love the things of God are so few and far between? Have we considered the fact that one real issue is that we have forgotten (for all intents and purposes) that we are in a war? Ephesians 6:12 should set us straight: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Lest we forget the context of this text, it is in the context of the church. This text speaks to both individuals but also the church. The pronouns in verses 11 (you) and 12 (our) are plural. The church is at war. The real struggle of the church is not with the government and not with all the things it deals with, but it is directly with the evil one and the powers and forces of darkness. Those are spiritual forces. Why do we not see that the battle is primarily spiritual? It is because we are so focused on physical things ourselves.

As we look around we should be startled. But the horrible state of the Church is so usual that we hardly even notice our desperate state. The words that Christ spoke to the churches in Revelation should awaken us from our spiritual slumbers. The teachings of the Word of God on spiritual famine should snap us to attention except that we are so drunk with the things of the world and success in non-spiritual things (though it may have to do with the church in name) that we hardly notice what is going on. The Conservative Resurgence has come and gone and we are still in a deep slumber. Reformed groups are started and we are still in a deep spiritual slumber. The United States has all the appearances of a great nation that is going straight down, yet the once mighty Church slumbers away sleepily nodding at anything as long as it promotes numerical or financial success.

As we have heard from conservatives in the political realm for so long, we must learn not to lean on the government. We have to learn not to wait on the government for help but look in other directions. Such is the same for the local church and associations of churches. They have to look to other places rather than denominational headquarters for help in this battle. They must begin to go directly to the real source and that is God. In a fight with a spiritual enemy, there is only one place for help against onslaughts like this. It matters little if all the political and denominational big shots line up on your side; they are nothing against the evil one. Each church and each person must begin to seek the Lord. We must have broken hearts or all else will be broken.

Jesus spoke searing words to those who were heretical and those who were lukewarm. He spoke words that should raise the hairs on the back of our necks, but we are so lukewarm that we hardly even yawn when we read those words. Why is that? Most likely it is because we think of those words as belonging to the Methodists or the Presbyterians. Maybe we think it belongs to some sluggard in another town. I think that the Word of God is speaking to virtually every person and every church (if not every) in the United States of America. Where are the churches that have true prayer meetings where God is sought for Himself and nothing else? Where are those that are given to prayer from the heart instead of prayer that comes from the lips alone?

The United States is in the midst of a famine and that includes Southern Baptists. We are starving to death while running around trying to be busy and look good to others and ourselves. We think that if we can be winsome or gracious enough or theologically linked enough that things will change. Let me be blunt and straight to the point. You could join professing Reformed Southern Baptists and those who are not Reformed Southern Baptists at the hip and nothing would change. We are in a spiritual famine and nothing will change unless God comes down and revives His people. A person’s theology matters little if the heart does not have a flame for God in it. Theology should show who the true God is and move us to love God. But it is nothing but history and philosophy unless the wood is set on fire by the Spirit. The recent conference on building bridges should make us cry out for revival. Aside from my belief that historical Reformed theology was not set out, it shows how stale academic papers can be. Where is God in our day? The churches are dying regardless of how they appear and almost regardless of their theological convictions. We must have a true heaven-sent revival and we must have it soon.

Listen from your heart to this text from Amos 8: “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD, “When I will send a famine on the land, Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water, But rather for hearing the words of the LORD. 12 “People will stagger from sea to sea And from the north even to the east; They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, But they will not find it.” One way that God sends judgment on a church, denomination and nation is by sending a spiritual famine upon them. It is beyond me how anyone could deny that Christianity in general, the SBC and our nation is presently suffering from this. We are in a spiritual famine while many are very busy. Amos 8 describes the Church and our nation as a whole. Who is there who hears the words of the Lord in our day? Who is there who speaks the Word of God with true conviction and power in our day? Why is that true? Is it because we are not as smart as they used to be or is it because we are lukewarm and in a famine? It is not that we don’t have enough church buildings or enough Bibles and books. But what we lack is exactly what the text tells us will happen and that is a lack of “hearing the words of the LORD.”

We live in day that should remind us of New Testament times. In that day there were the Pharisees and the scribes. A lawyer was one that specialized in the law of God. The people depended on the Pharisees and scribes to tell them what the Bible said. In our day the people depend on scholars to tell them what the Bible means. Does this mean that scholarship is in and of itself is wrong? No, not as long as we understand that it is the Spirit alone who can give us the spiritual understanding of the text. When preachers get their understanding from the scholars instead of from God Himself, the land will be headed for famine quickly because no one will be hearing the words of the Lord. The scholar can only write about the words of the text, but the Spirit can give the meaning that is from the Lord alone. The Spirit can teach us the mind of God and give true spiritual wisdom and understanding (Col 1:9). The historian and the biblical scholar cannot do this. We must learn to spend time with God.

I Corinthians 2: “10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

Until we seek the Lord for true understanding of spiritual things, we will not know the Lord nor understand the Word of the Lord. We are in a spiritual famine of hearing and understanding the words of the Lord. There is no program that will help this. We are utterly dependant on God alone for this. When people are too busy to pray to learn to truly pray, they will continue in the famine in the midst of much activity. If we will not to seek the Lord for repentance from lukewarmness, we will be spittle of the Lord. If we will not cry to God for understanding in our study of the Word, we will preach without the Holy Spirit and power. But let us never forget that God alone can draw us to Himself. It is possible to try to seek the Lord as a method or for other reasons than Himself. That is nothing but idolatry. God’s people must be broken from their own efforts and worth to seek the Lord for Himself. As II Chronicles 7:14 teaches us, we must be humbled in order to pray. We must be humbled in order to pray and then to seek the face of the Lord. We must then turn from our evil ways. Without true humility and prayer from the heart for God Himself, the famine will continue. But it is God who must work these things in our heart or they will be just more religious activity. Will you seek the Lord for a broken heart in order to seek Him? Will you begin to seek the Lord rather than things? If you don’t truly desire to do those things, you are in great danger. By definition you are lukewarm if you don’t have the fire of God in your soul. Seek repentance.