If My People

If My People

by David J. Stewart

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." -2nd Chronicles 7:14

2nd Chronicles 7:14 is one of the most quoted Scriptures from the Word of God. This verse contains the remedy for America. It contains a PROMISE from God Almighty, but it's a "conditional" promise (i.e., there are conditions which WE must first meet as believers). If we meet the conditions, then God will honor His promise. Here are the conditions:

Humble ourselves

Pray

Seek God's face

Turn from our wicked ways

These four conditions are naturally progressive in order. In other words, a person won't pray if they are not humble. A person who does not humble them self and pray cannot seek God's face. A person who is not seeking God's face will not turn from their wicked sins. So there is a divine order here, and it all begins with humility and thanksgiving towards God on our part. When we are humbled, then we will turn to God in prayer and seek God's presence in our life. As we GROW in the Spirit by walking with God, He WILL influence us and rub off on us. Thus, we will become more like Jesus, loving righteousness and hating iniquity.

Pastors and Sunday School teachers all across America teach this Scripture to their listeners, Sunday after Sunday, yet fail to FULLY understand what they are teaching. Christians all across America "THINK" they are obeying 2nd Chronicles 7:14, but they certainly are NOT. All across America, professed Christians go to a building on Sunday, bow themselves in humility, pray to God, and then try to live above reproach throughout the week...thinking that they are serving God. The truth is that they themselves are a big part of the PROBLEM in America. But you say, "Wait a minute buster!...Those believers went to church, they humbled themselves, they prayed, they're trying to live right." Yes, but they aren't doing anything to stand against the evils of our day. In so doing, they have NOT turned from their wicked ways yet. What? That right! They have NOT turned from their wicked ways. Part of turning from our wicked ways is to repent of the sin of complacency.

The Sin of Complacency

One of the most wicked sins of Christians in America is complacency. Most Christians are woefully guilty of apathy and indifference. This is exactly why wickedness has flourished in America. It's sad that entertainers like Anita Bryant had to stand up against homosexuality instead of America's churches. Even worse, when Anita Bryant did stand up, the churches failed to stand with her. It's sad that Cindy Sheehan, the mother of soldier Casey Sheehan (who was slain only five days after arriving in Iraq), has to stand up against the corruption in the White House by herself. Where are the pastors and churches? Our children are dying for the selfish agendas of corporate criminals, and NOT to defend America.   The FACT that our nation's borders are left wide open is an indictment against the Bush administration that the Iraqi invasion never had anything to do with America's safety.

2nd Chronicles 7:14 tells us that if we meet God's four conditions, He will forgive our sins and HEAL OUR LAND. The United States of America is a sick nation. We have been in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) for a long time. In fact, America has now lapsed into a spiritual coma. Americans are no longer conscious of what is going on around them. Blatant corruption and evil are spewing out of Washington D.C. like vomit onto the floor. The sins of our leaders are so great that they can no longer be hidden from the conscious American. Sadly, few American citizens fully realize or appreciate the significance of the Bill of Rights or the U.S. Constitution. Even more tragic is the FACT that most Christian are ASLEEP concerning righteousness. No wonder why the Apostle Paul declared...AWAKE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS! (1st Corinthians 15:34). America is deathly ill, she doesn't look like she'll make it. The poison which entered her arteries many decades ago has now entered the heart. It's just a matter of time.

Can God heal America? Of course God can, He said He would...but only if we meet those four conditions. America's Christians are asleep concerning righteousness. They pray, go to church, try to live above reproach, and play the religious game. Unfortunately, they don't get too upset over sin. Homosexuality doesn't make them mad enough to speak out against it. Softporn on the store's magazine display doesn't offend them enough to complain to management. Abortion doesn't offend them enough to try to deter unwary mothers from going into an abortion clinic to murder their child. Nope, the church just continues to sit on their blessed assurance, scratching each other's backs, playing the game, and keeping someone employed who probably isn't worth the money. Do you really think God enjoys hearing us praise His name while we sit idle as the wicked parade their wickedness? Folks, Psalm 94:16 doesn't apply solely to Israel. God wants all of us to stand up against evil. Psalm 97:10 commands everyone who loves the Lord to "HATE EVIL." Instead of standing on the promises, most church members are sitting on the premises. We need to get MAD (as in MAKE A DIFFERENCE). I'm not condoning violence or anything illegal. I'm simply saying that if we don't exercise our God-given right to free speech, we WILL eventually lose it and our freedoms which are inseparably linked to free speech.

Awake To Righteousness...America is Sleeping!

According to revelation 4:11, we were created to please God (that is our true purpose for living). Most believers "think" that God is happy with them because they play the religious/church game. Please don't misunderstand me...we should go to church...we should tithe...we should support our local church...we should pray and walk with God...we should study the Word of God, etc. However, if you can do all those things and still sit idly by without getting angry over the wickedness all around us in America, then something is VERY WRONG with your spiritual walk. America is filled with walking religious libraries (believers who know the Bible very well), but have no burning desire to fight sin and the evils which are so prevalent all around us. Billy Sunday didn't just get saved and quietly attend church the rest of his life...the guy went ballistic!!! He jumped, hollered, and acted like a maniac from behind the pulpit when he preached against sin. Out of the pulpit, Billy Sunday was a man's man and a real gentleman. But in the pulpit, Billy Sunday was known for his uncompromising stance against alcohol, gambling, and dancing. Oh to God for a thousand more Billy Sunday today!

If you're reading this article, then this message is for YOU. God wants you to get fired up over sin! God wants you to get excited about the Truth of God's Word! God wants you to have a yearning passion for righteousness! God knows you're not perfect. If God could only use perfect people to serve Him, then He wouldn't have anyone to use because we are all dirty rotten hell-deserving sinners (Romans 3:10,23; 6:23). But praise God, Jesus precious blood washes our sins away (Colossians 1:14). My advice to anyone who wants to get going for God is to study great men of God (not just preachers); men like Dr. Jack Hyles, Evangelist Billy Sunday, Dr. John Rice, Pastor Dwight L. Moody, General William Booth, Missionary David Livingston, Pastor Charles Spurgeon, etc. Read their sermons!!! Listen to their sermons if available.

Yes, America can be healed, but she has lapsed into a spiritual coma that only red-hot uncompromising Biblical preaching can bring her out of. Most Christians live on the love boat, they run away from anything that might bring them persecution. The Bible declares that anyone who lives for God WILL face certain persecution..."Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2nd Timothy 3:12). The Christian life is a cross-bearing life. If you want to measure how well America's Christians are doing, then simply look at the level of persecution. Though we receive news reports here and there of Christians who are faithfully fighting the good fight of faith, MOST Christians in America don't know what "persecution" really means. Instead of preaching out against "homosexual marriages," Christianity Today magazine thinks we should be more loving and understanding towards the LGBT community. Instead of exposing the Satanic evils of Harry Potter, Christianity Today magazine actually gave the witchcraft series a positive review. Do you see, we have not turned from our wicked ways in America.

The average church administration cares more about the Sunday offerings than they do about the people in the local community. Even worse, America's Christians are living in DENIAL of their apostate condition. I went to visit a church with my family. The pastor didn't know me. The pastor was cold and distant...acting like a tough guy. After I dropped a $50 check in his offering plate, he literally ran his fat body down the street to greet us as we were leaving his church. When I asked him if I could go soulwinning with him, he weaseled his way out of it by recommended that I go with my own family. Real great pastor, huh? We visited his church for a few weeks. His big day boasted a sickly attendance of 25 people. I actually heard him saying publicly from the pulpit that he wasn't trying to "grow" his church.   He said he was just trying to pass down to the next generation what was passed to him. The guy had a big "IDIOT" written across his forehead. Most of his unwary church members couldn't see it, but I knew that this guy would never do anything great for God. He was already excusing himself from building his attendance. Can you say...lazy? He led his people every Wednesday night (at the weekly prayer meeting) to "pray about the abortion issue." God forbid he should actually go down the street to the nearby abortuary and try to do something about it. Posters picturing aborted babies has been PROVEN to deter some women from having abortions. What is wrong with America's pastors? We didn't need a pastor like that.

Believers Who Don't care

What will it take America? What will it take to open your eyes oh Christian? What will it take to remove your blinders to the truth? America is going to hell because of dead churches, because of Christians who play the church game without ever doing anything to fight against sin and evil. In 2004, I met with a Christian man who teaches at a large Bible college. I had never met the man before and we knew very little about each other (other than a few e-mails worth of correspondence). The man is in charge of their missionary department. I requested his advice, and he recommended lunch at a local restaurant. All he did through the entire conversation was brag about himself (how many buildings he had built, how much money he once had under his control while on the mission field, etc.). He didn't seem as concerned about helping me as he was about boasting about himself. I had brought my family with. There were dozens of people in the restaurant. When we went to thank God for the food, I bowed my head with my eyes closed. I found out later from one of my children that the man never bowed his head or closed his eyes. You see, kids watch to see who's real and who's not. They pegged him real quick. Evidently he had adopted the practice of praying in public with his head up and his eyes open. Although a person certainly can pray to God in such a fashion, I think it's a shame and a cop-out. It was apparent to my family that he was ashamed of Jesus. I later asked the man if I could tag along with him during his ministry on Sunday. He said he was too busy, but I could sit with him in church. No thanks pal. To no surprise, he didn't even thank me for the meal I bought him. I never bothered to call him again...and he never bothered to call me back either, just as I expected.

Backslidden Bible Colleges

It's so frustrating to know that such a deadbeat is responsible for hundreds of young people in a Bible college. What are Bible colleges thinking these days? They are hiring the wrong people! If I had a Bible college, I would hire all the troublemakers...the big mouths for God, the sin-hating, Christ-honoring, hell fire and damnation preaching zealots...the Billy Sundays. How can you train Billy Sundays if you don't have any Billy Sundays to train them?    Of course, I probably wouldn't have many students either. Most young people today are more concerned about job security than they are about serving God. Listen folks, there ain't no job security in the ministry...none! In fact, there's not much job security in most jobs today...secular or ministerial. Most college-aged young people are being supported by their parents, and their parents are primarily concerned about their kid eating when he/she finishes school (understandably). As America plunges deeper and deeper into the immoral abyss, Bible colleges are increasingly pressured to dip their sails and compromise their standards in order to maintain enough enrollment to pay the bills. There's a natural trend for Bible colleges to spiritually deteriorate over time. It's a sad fact, Bible college administrations oftentimes compromise their integrity to attract more students who are more worldly. It's hard to imagine that the heathen, Chicago University, was actually started by a Baptist preacher a long, long time ago.

If My People...

If America is going to be changed, we need a whole new breed of believers. The television believer isn't going to change America. The NIV (New International Version) believer isn't going to change America for God. The Sunday believer isn't going to do it. We need men and women with backbone...guts! Until you come to the place in your Christian life where you're willing to lose something (perhaps even everything) for the cause of Christ, then you will never do much for God. Fear prevents believers from taking a stand, from jumping into the deep for God, from going against the crowd, from standing alone, from preaching the truth to a hostile world.

Please don't misunderstand me, anyone can serve God...even cowards. Perhaps you can only give out Gospel tracts anonymously because you're afraid of people. That's ok! Everyone is different. All I'm saying is that if America is going to be brought back to God and saved from utter destruction, then we're going to need fearless men of God like Billy Sunday to stand up and preach the Word of God uncompromisingly against sin. Satan's crowd has near total control of the TV and radio. We need thousands of Christian websites, like this one, to take a stand for God on the internet. Type in "Public Schools Are Evil" and this website will likely come up first. That makes me feel good. Why? Because I'm not just sitting in church on Sunday praising the Lord, I'm also putting a candle under the devil's rear end at the same time. Type in "Catholic church exposed" and this website will likely come up first again. Join me as I fight to proclaim the truth, especially the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Notice what God says in 2nd Chronicles 7:15...

"Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place." -2nd Chronicles 7:15

God is waiting! God is listening and watching! If you're humble enough to pray and seek God's face, then do it. The result should cause you to want to please God by living a righteous life, and to equally hate sin and speak out against it. God deliver us from the hordes of professed Christians who have no zeal for God, little concern over right or wrong, and no hostility against sin. America is going to hell because of church-going believers who have NO PASSION about the things of God. What is God concerned about? God is concerned about the poor. God is concerned about the broken-hearted. God is concerned about the exploited. God is concerned about the robbed and betrayed. God is concerned about the unemployed. And God is hateful against all the sins which cause these evils in society. God hates the murderous abortion industry. God hates the murderous alcohol industry and liquor trafficking. God hates the scandalous Federal Reserve System. God hates the enslaving Patriot Act. God hates corruption, like Enron. God hates all the adulterous, lewd, and violent Hollywood movies. God hates the torture and murder of Terri Schiavo. God hates the evil invasion of Iraq on the basis of White House LIES. God hates the Harry Potter series which promotes witchcraft. God hates homosexuality, bisexuality, and transexuality. God hates the hellish rock music industry. God hates the adulterous country music industry. God hates the lying propaganda of the news media. God hates the lobbying law firms that channel the filthy lucre into the hands of Washington politicians, selling out their fellow Americans. God hates lying.

Yes, God hates sin and all forms of wickedness. If we are to truly TURN FROM OUR WICKED WAYS, then let us start by standing out against all the many great evils of our day. God is NOT pleased with a generation of shameful believers who carry no cross, who stand for nothing, who never anger the wicked, who sit idle, who never fight for what is right, who hide their candle under a bushel, who try to kowtow with the wicked, who compromise in an attempt not to offend the wicked, who endorse Harry Potter's witchcraft, who think compromise is love, who think contending for the faith is hate, who do nothing for God except criticize those of us who are getting the job done. It's our job to get the truth out. It's our duty as American citizens to protest the blatant evils being committed by our own government. Separation of church and state does NOT mean separation of citizens from their own government. America's churches are composed of CITIZENS who need to start using their strength in numbers to get the government's and media's attention. Look at what one man, Michael Marcavage, has accomplished at www.repentamerica.com Repent America has sparked a revival of old fashioned preaching and Christ-honoring efforts all around the country. Just think what a handful of like-minded churches could do? Thank God for churches like the Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church in Tallahassee, Florida (see photo below).

IF MY PEOPLE...

What are you going to do about it?