America! It's Not Too Late!*

Whatever we have done personally, or as a nation, it's not too late. After he was removed from office for refusing to take down the Ten Commandments from his court, Judge Roy Moore wrote a poem titled, "America, the Beautiful". It is a poem about how far America had drifted from its noble beginnings. It is too long to write out here, but the ending of his poem is: "...How are we to face our God, from Whom we cannot hide? What then is left for us to do, but stem this evil tide? If we who are His children, will humbly turn and pray; Seek His holy face and mend our evil way: Then God will hear from Heaven and forgive us of our sins, He'll heal our sickly land and those who live within. But, America the Beautiful, if you don't - then you will see, A sad but Holy God withdraw His hand from Thee." The prophet Jeremiah also saw his nation rejecting the prophetic warning of the LORD, and rushing into the consequences that awaited them. He laments for his country and himself in the Book of Lamentations. He wrote as a man who found himself in a spiritual place seemingly without hope: "He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out: he hath made my chain heavy. Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my prayer...He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: he hath made me desolate...And I said, My strength and my hope is perished from the LORD..." (Lam. 3:6-8, 11, 18). He was a prophet who was not hearing from the LORD, and believed that the LORD was no longer hearing him. Then from within his own soul, a reminder came: "My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is humbled in me. This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the LORD." (v. 20-26). We, the watchmen for our nation, need to recognize that God is our mercy. The prophet Jonah, whose name means "Dove", fled from the command of God that he go to the wicked nation of Nineveh, and bring them a warning that God's judgment was about to fall upon them. Because of Jonah's disobedience, the ship on which he fled was overtaken by a terrible tempest that threatened to destroy the ship (Jonah 1:4). Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish that had been prepared by the LORD. Jonah described his sinking and the swallowing by the great fish as death: "Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight..." (Jonah 2:1-5). Yet from within Jonah, the hope of deliverance was brought to his mind: "...yet I will look again toward thy holy temple...yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O LORD my God. When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." (v.4-9). As Jonah humbled himself, and remembered Who the LORD was: "... the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon dry land." (v. 10). There is a heaven to gain, a hell to shun, and, like Jonah, we have a calling to fulfill. In the story of Ruth, Ruth ("friendship") and her mother-in-law, Naomi ("Pleasant"), who had been living in Moab, had lost everything. The nation of Moab had its beginning many years in the past from an incestuous relationship. Naomi's husband had died, and two sons, whose names meant "sick" and "wasting away", had died. One of her sons had been married to Ruth, the Moabite. Naomi's heart had turned bitter from the grief at these losses. When she decided to return to her homeland and her town of Bethlehem ("House of Bread"), her daughter-in-law Ruth, did not want to be separated from Naomi. Ruth vowed to stay with Naomi saying, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go...thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God..." (Ruth 1:16). When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole town came out to see them, and asked if this was Naomi. Naomi told them not to call her Naomi ("Pleasant") any longer, but "Bitter", "for the LORD Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me...the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me." (v. 20-21). However, the LORD of mercy had not turned His back on Naomi, but had brought her back to Bethlehem, "the House of Bread", to redeem and restore her. As Naomi saw how her kinsman Boaz had taken an interest in Ruth, hope began to grow in Naomi's heart. Boaz redeemed her husband's inheritance, and married her daughter-in-law, Ruth. A child was born to them named Obed, who would become the future King David's grandfather. Naomi got to hold and nurse the new child, as another son. Naomi, like Job, spoke wrong words in her desperation and grief, but God's mercy was still there for her. Despite our beginnings or circumstances, each person has a purpose, and an opportunity for the mercy of God. After he became king, David was moved to ask if there were any living family members of the house of Saul, the previous king who had died at the hand of the LORD for his disobedience (2 Sam. 9:1-4). King Saul had also spent many years chasing and trying to kill David. Yet, the mercy of the LORD was prompting David to seek out the descendants of Saul, not in order to kill them, as would have been the custom of the day, but to bless them, and show mercy upon them. Saul's son, Jonathan, David's very dear friend, did have a son who was lame from an injury suffered while fleeing as a child after his father and grandfather died. He was now living his life in poverty. Jonathan's son, Mephibosheth (meaning "exterminating the idol"), is brought to, and humbles himself before David, and David restores all of Saul's lands to him, as well as servants to work that land, and brings Mephibosheth to his own king's table, a place of honor and provision (v. 5-13). Neither physical issues nor family history can keep you from the promise and mercy of God. The prophet Ezekiel was given the Word of the LORD concerning the appointment of the watchman. He said that if the watchman warns, and if the people in iniquity heed the warning, and turn from evil as a result, they deliver their soul. If the watchman warns of the coming "sword" as he is supposed to do, and the people do not heed the warning, the watchman is innocent of blood on his hands, and the blood of the guilty will be upon their own heads. However, if the watchman sees the destruction approaching, and fails to sound the warning, the blood of those who were not given a chance to repent will be on his hands (see Ezekiel chapters 3, 22, 33). The LORD says to the watchman: "So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me." (Ezek. 33:7). The provision of mercy is available to those in iniquity, if they are warned, and if they heed the warning and repent. God's rebuke was especially upon prophets, and the priests who failed to teach the people the difference between the holy and the profane as revealed in God's Word, and for the princes, the powerful, who preyed upon the people for their own gain (Ezek. 22:23-29). We see this same circumstance in America every day. Regarding this situation, God made a sad pronouncement: "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore I have poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way I have recompensed upon their heads, saith the LORD God." (v. 30-31). As an apostle, I am telling you that YOU are the appointed watchmen of whom God's Word commands to bring warning to the people when we see the forces of destruction and judgment entering the land. Are we standing in the gap for America? It is not too late. Have we become indifferent to our purpose regarding this nation? In the Book of Revelation, Jesus sternly corrects the church in Laodicea. He said that their works reflected that they were neither hot nor cold, but lukewarm. He said, "So then because thou art lukewarm, I will spue thee out of my mouth." (Rev. 3:14-16). However, it is not too late for the lukewarm church either. Jesus urged them to buy gold tried in the fire, rather than the worldly wealth of which they were so proud and felt so secure, and to acquire the white raiment of righteousness. They were to anoint their eyes with salve so they might "see". He reminded this lukewarm church that He rebukes and chastens those whom He loves. If this church would receive His correction, and change their ways, Jesus promised this great mercy, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." (v. 17-22). Church, it is not too late! America, it is not too late! *Based upon Dr. Kenneth E. Stevenson's 11/7/21 message to the church. If you would like to contact us for prayer, a praise report, or to support this ministry write to P.O. Box 154221, Waco, TX 76705 OR Everlastingcovenant@ymail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and at endtimeschool.com.