Stand or Kneel
How shall we stand when He appeareth?
But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. (Zechariah 1:6)
Throughout the long history of man there have been many nations; they have fallen one after another in power and even in existence; yet, man does not see the root reason for their demise and destruction. Simply, it is this . . . that man’s sin and the multitude of these sins that has overthrown man and nations. (Galatians 6:7) Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. We often apply this verse to the individual, but entire nations are responsible as well as the individual. If a nation sows evil, then evil it will receive, and it will be judged according to that evil. The heart of man is desperately evil. (Jeremiah 17:9) The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Because of the deceitfulness of the heart, man entertains the most grossest of sins. He becomes like a dog chasing his own tail, which is his sin. When we meet someone, we cannot look at them and describe their sin, or even know their sin; however, God is not mocked for He knows all and sees all. For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)
When one views a nation, one can see their sin and usually if one has the right state of heart, then they can see the judgment for that nation’s sin. If not at that exact moment in time, but later in life they will see the judgment fulfilled. Somehow the spirit of man has thought that he can hide himself from God. Man dresses himself up in his garments of self-righteousness, deceiving himself for if he thinks he is righteous, then he is able to rationalize and hide his sin. At some point, he will vanish from his kingdom the very word ‘sin.’ He will replace it with ‘mistake’ or any word that will remove his responsibility to an Almighty God. What man does sow, he shall reap. In verse 8 of Galatians 6, Paul divides man into two parts: flesh and spirit. If one sows to the flesh of the flesh shall he reap corruption. If he sows to the spirit he will reap life everlasting.
Man refuses this thought of having a supreme Being stand as Judge over him. Man does not wish to be called a sinner, or acknowledge that he is a sinner. So to for the nations, they rebel against God, and they mock God at every level of their society. Yes man has religion, but it is man-made. There is no room for the divine Being of God, but a God that they have contrived in the dark caverns of their hearts. How often have you heard, ‘why is God doing this to me?’ They act like a child who stuffs his hand in a fire, and wonders why his hand is burnt. It was the child who put his hand in the fire, and so nations, with the same rationalization wonders why they come under the judgment of God. Man’s mind has become clouded with power and ambition, so much so that the entire society of the world is full of lying, cheating, murder, and so many sins we could not write them all. Yet, man wonders why he suffers from disease, why his heart fails, why tragedy rips his loved ones from him. How often man has stood at the precipice of tragedy and blamed God. In one breath man says that there is no God, and in the next breath he blames God (you can’t have it both ways); when it is for his own sin he is judged. Tragedy and judgment can be considered to be two sides of man’s tale. When Job was being tried through the death of all his children in an instant of time, and suffering from rejection and illness, he would not condemn God for his situation, (Job 5:7) Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. Tragedy and suffering come to all, the righteous and the unrighteous; however, in this article we are dealing with the unrighteous.
This is not just the individual, but entire societies. We live in a present evil world, there is no doubt of this; for only a blind man would not see all the evil around him. Even a blind man would feel the evil, and hear the evil; yet, the world continues on sticking their hands in the fire and wondering why their hands are burnt. Is there a solution to this madness of sin? Yes . . . there are two solutions. The first is to repent of their sins, and call on the name of the Lord. The second is to do nothing and accept that God will judge.
© Copyright 2015, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)