How Should Christians Cope with an Evil Environment?
How Should Christians Cope with an Evil Environment?
I do not need to list the sinful behaviors taking place in our day. We all know them. Being 88 years of age, born and raised in New England, I scarce can recognize our country.
But one can read in the Old Testament of how immoral Israel would become at times, until God punished them severely and then sent a judge to conquer the enemies and bring peace to the land. The enemies were raised up by the Lord to chasten the Israelites because of their departure from God.
The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord; they forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asherahs. The anger of the Lord burned against Israel so that he sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram Naharaim, to whom the Israelites were subject for eight years. (Judges 3:7,8)
It was the Lord who "sold them into the hands of Cushan-Rishathaim."
We have had outstanding revivals in our country. At one time there was a strong Christian flavor throughout America. Jesus Christ and the Bible were honored.
But no more. We have the government we deserve. Moral abominations abound. Some are legislated into laws, such as the curriculum in California that brings sexual topics into the grade schools. The downhill slide into the pit of immorality is easy to observe.
It is going to get worse, until God moves. We may think that there is no God, or that God is not interested in what goes on in His earth. We are mistaken in this. Wherever sodomy is practiced, God's judgment is certain to follow.
I believe the Spirit of God has informed me that after much bloodshed, America will become a third-rate nation, and the leadership of the world will pass to an Eastern nation. He did not say which nation.
The scoffers may scoff. They always do until the water goes over their head.
Although not raised as a Christian, I have been following the Lord Jesus for many years. I know from personal experience that there is a God and the Lord Jesus Christ is His Son.
We all have read about the sin in our country, and I expect there are some Christians who are aware that the turmoil within our borders is due to God removing His hand of protection from us. So I will proceed with how Christians should cope with an evil environment and the perversity of wicked, self-seeking people.
Any member of our church will tell you how often I have preached from the thirty-seventh Psalm, warning the congregation about the damage that occurs as we fret against evil. Well, here I go again, and the evil is much worse now than it was a few years ago.
Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong. (Psalms 37:1)
To fret is to be agitated or irritated.
When we observe what is taking place in our government or our country we easily can become agitated or irritated.
The Scripture commands us: "Do not fret." Are we going to obey God or not?
Paul, who had as much reason to fret as anyone, being in jail at the time after having suffered many hardships, commanded the following:
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:4-9)
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Sometimes it is easy to rejoice. On other occasions it is quite difficult. But Paul commands, "Always." We can rejoice in the midst of the perversities, if we put our mind to it. But we might have to call on the Lord for help. In any case, we are not to let grumbling and complaining fill our mind.
Picture yourself at the right hand of God in Christ. Can you see that by being agitated and irritated you are tearing yourself down from the heavenly position in which God has placed you as a saint?
Make yourself think about what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable. Do it! Do not give in to fretting and complaining. If God indeed is permitting evil men to prosper and vaunt themselves because His people are not serving Him as they should, then when we fret and complain about the conditions in our land we are warring against what God Himself is doing.
Abortion is a terrible, terrible crime. God will avenge each one of the aborted fetuses. We do not help matters when we become upset as God sends Divine judgment on the wicked. Our place is to pray about the injustices—not to fret, but to pray.
We are to pray about the wicked instruction in the public schools, not fret about it.
We are to pray about the rise of homosexual behavior, not fret about it.
We are to pray about the scorning of God and His Christ, not fret about it.
Jesus told us that if we will ask anything in His name, He will do it. But He will not hear our prayers when we are fretting in our unbelief.
I believe, if the government keeps on going against our traditional American values, it will not be too long before there is an armed revolt. This is understandable. You cannot go against the traditional culture of a people without a reaction.
But what does God say: "Let your gentleness be evident to all."
How can we remain gentle when what we value is being trampled under the feet of the ungodly? Our Lord was gentle. He is our Example. He remained meek and lowly in the face of extreme perversity. Pilate judged Christ unrighteously, but Christ did not argue with Pilate.
I believe there is a topic here that is of great importance for us to consider.
It could happen that in the near future there will be black, Muslim, and possibly homosexual mobs in the streets, destroying property and, in some cases, injuring or killing innocent people. It is obvious that throughout the world of today there is rebellion and a willingness to destroy the social order.
Now, what is a Christian to do? Is he to carry a gun to protect himself and his family? For myself, I asked the Lord if I should carry a gun. He said, "No."
But I do not believe this injunction applies to everyone. Each Christian must hear for himself. He might tell you to buy an AK-47 assault rifle because He sees that in the future your neighborhood is going to band together to mount a defense team because of a breakdown of law in the nearby city.
What did Jesus do about this? There appears to be a certain amount of inconsistency, varying from one circumstance to another. In one place Jesus told a disciple to put the sword back in the scabbard, because "all who draw the sword will die by the sword."
When Jesus' followers saw what was going to happen, they said, "Lord, should we strike with our swords?" And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
But Jesus answered, "No more of this!" And he touched the man's ear and healed him. (Luke 22:49-51)
"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?" (Matthew 26:50-54)
But in another place:
He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment." The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That's enough!" he replied. (Luke 22:36-38)
So what is the answer? It is that on one occasion we are not to take up the sword. On another occasion we are to take up the sword. The lesson is that we seek the Lord and know what to do in each instance.
Let us say there was a book keeper whose name was Roger Smith. He had a wife, Louise, and two daughters named Nancy and Jill. They lived in Escondido, California.
One evening, about 6:30, they decided to go to a restaurant to eat dinner. Nancy and Jill shouted "Yeah," and began to plan their own menu, which was largely cheeseburgers and hot dogs.
The family decided on Coco's restaurant. The Smiths lived in North Escondido. They went around the back way to Coco's because every evening there was mob violence on Centre City Parkway and also on Broadway.
Sometimes the mob was composed of black teenagers who were proclaiming their cause of the day.
Sometimes the mob was composed of Muslims who were upset because their women were forbidden to wear burkas. The courts were opposed to burkas because it made it impossible to positively identify persons who were in court for one reason or another.
Sometimes the mob was composed of homosexuals who were complaining that some Christian churches would not perform the marriage ceremony for them.
No one went to downtown Escondido in the evening without good reason. They were liable to be killed!
The Smiths entered Coco's parking lot. They got out of their car and were proceeding toward the entrance to Coco's. The little girls were all excited.
Suddenly Roger saw on his right a burly black young man running toward them from Valley Parkway. He was yelling and waving his arms in what appeared to be a hostile manner.
Roger was terrified not knowing whether his wife and daughters were going to be raped, or killed, or what.
Roger was five feet, eight inches tall and weighed about 130 pounds. The young man running toward them towered over six feet tall and looked to be about 250 pounds in weight.
Roger, who was panicked, thought to himself, "Pastor Thompson told us to pray about everything, but I have another kind of prayer in my pocket." With this he pulled out the 9mm automatic that he routinely carried because his job sometimes involved transporting money. His gun was loaded with hollow-point bullets.
By this time the young man whom he thought was going to harm him and his family was about thirty yards from him. Roger still could not understand what he was saying. Roger fired three shots into the young man's chest.
The young black man staggered forward until he was close to Roger's face. The face of the young black was contorted with pain, but there was a smile of understanding and forgiveness. He looked carefully at Roger, and then collapsed to the ground.
Roger was frozen for a moment, and then told Louise to get in the car with the two girls and lock the car doors.
Then Roger pulled out his cellphone and dialed 911, telling the operator where he was and that he had shot a man to death.
A pool of blood was forming around the dead man.
Then Roger heard sirens in the distance. He supposed it was the answer to his call.
But at that moment, thirty to forty young people came running down Valley Parkway, being chased by the police. They appeared to be heading toward Auto Park Way. They did not notice Roger Smith or the dead man lying on the parking lot.
Finally the police arrived and then the paramedics. The information was written down and the body was placed in the ambulance and driven away.
Two months later, Roger Smith was seated in court with Louise, Nancy, Jill, and his attorney.
The prosecutor arose and greeted the jury. He said, "This trial is about the cold-blooded murder of Samuel Johnson. Samuel was a fine young man. He was an outstanding athlete, an offensive tackle in high school. He had a football scholarship at the University of California at San Diego.
"His goal was to become an elementary-school teacher in a poor area, hoping to give disadvantaged children a purpose in life.
"He was an ardent Christian and church member. Sam made it a practice, when he found out a mob was on the move, to run ahead of them and warn the people in their path to take cover. This was why he was running toward Roger Smith and waving his arms. He wanted to warn him that a mob was coming down Valley Parkway."
Roger did not hear any more of the court proceedings after this, he was so shaken. "I have killed a fellow believer, and for this I probably will get twenty years in prison. Why didn't I pray before shooting Mr. Johnson!"
Surprisingly, Roger Smith was acquitted. The jury members realized that with the current rapings and murders, if they had been in possession of a pistol they probably would have done the same thing. A tragic incident, but with no one to blame but the mobs.
Of course there were threatening emails after this. But because of the extensive mob activity in which many people, some innocent and some activists, were killed or seriously injured, the shooting of Samuel Johnson soon was forgotten.
The social order had broken down, and who could foretell the future in America?
Roger Smith had learned a hard, hard lesson that stood him in good stead as America was overrun with competing ideologies and much blood was shed.
But Roger had some incidents to remind him about rushing to judgment.
For the rest of Roger's life, about once or twice a year, Samuel Johnson's face would appear before him.
There was no hate in his face, only understanding.
Samuel would say, "Bro, the next time you are faced with danger, ask Jesus what you should do before you pull the trigger."
Then, while the smile remained, the face of Jesus would take the place of Mr. Johnson's. The face was still black, but it was that of Jesus. On Jesus' head was a crown of long black thorns.
Slowly the face disappeared, until only the compassionate, understanding smile remained. Then the smile vanished.
This dream, if that is what it was, remained in the consciousness of Roger Smith for the remainder of his life. It served him well as the United States disintegrated into competing mobs, until finally the chairman of the armed forces declared himself President with absolute authority. He quickly restored order to the country, now greatly diminished as a world power.
Three years later, after all rebellion was put down, a presidential election was held and a new president came into office.
Let all of us ask Jesus what we should do, before we pull the trigger!
For like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. (Psalms 37:2)
I can remember when Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini were threatening to rule the world. Where are they now? Such will be the case of those who today are making great boasts.
But look what our God promises in the midst of today's corruption:
Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalms 37:3,4)
You are not required to fret and complain about the spiritual darkness around you.
Put your trust in the Lord Jesus and keep on doing good. To fret is to do evil!
Be content in your present circumstances. Do what good you can. Your bread and water will be sure. God will see to that.
And here is an important directive: "Take delight in the Lord." There are believers who grudgingly read the Bible and try to be religious. Jesus Christ is a king, and He takes no pleasure in people who think a Christian is supposed to be miserable.
Set yourself to think about something good in your life. Then choose to delight yourself in the Lord. Tell Him how much you appreciate the good things He has given you to enjoy.
Sometimes it is difficult to find anything to rejoice about. Make the effort. Majesty is revealed when a saint looks up from the fiery trial and blesses the Lord.
Choose to delight yourself in the Lord, and He has promised to give you the desires of your heart. Ask Jesus to show you what it is you really want. Then delight yourself in the Lord as much as possible. That you shall receive what it is you truly want is as certain as God's Character!
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
And now notice this:
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
Moral and physical chaos is approaching our nation, as I have said so many times. If we are to survive and have peace, and help others to find peace, we must be anxious about nothing. Rather we are to pray about all injustice, all wrong, all that is sinful, as these circumstances come to our attention. We are to keep bringing these situations to God's attention.
We are not to rage and fume about the spiritual darkness, understanding clearly that there will be a time when God has finished His judgment; those who destroy the earth have themselves and their evil works been removed from God's earth; and peace has been restored.
Sinful, self-seeking people are confident that God, if there is a God, will not judge iniquity. They are mistaken. Every idle word is being carefully recorded and shall be dealt with. How much more the actions of those who have no regard for Christ or the Bible and shamelessly vaunt their perversities!
Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this (give you the desires of your heart): He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun. (Psalms 37:5.6)
To commit our way to the Lord is to bring all of our thoughts, plans, and decisions to Him—all that we think, say, and do—until we can say with the Apostle Paul, "Christ lives in me."
"Trust" is somewhat different from faith. "Faith" is the courageous confidence by which the saint moves forward in Christ obeying Christ, overcoming all obstacles.
"Trust," on the other hand, is our grip upon the faithfulness of God when our circumstances could bring us to despair if we allowed them to.
"He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun." It has been true throughout history, and is just as true today, that those who love the Lord are dismayed at the sin around them. It was this way with the patriarch, Lot, according to the Bible.
But their end shall come.
God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (II Thessalonians 1:6,7)
The ungodly sneer at the faith of the righteous. I notice today that in America many people are afraid to proclaim Christ. They may have forgotten what our Lord said about those who deny Him. They are more afraid of the opinions of people than they are of the Lord.
The Gospel of the Kingdom is not a plan to make people happy and prosperous in the present world. Rather it is a hope that if we faithfully serve God, living a godly life, letting the light of good works shine from us, the time is coming when we shall rejoice exceedingly, singing and dancing on the high places of Zion.
Our hope in Christ shall be vindicated totally. Those who are at home in the antichrist world system of buying and selling may scorn us now. But the future will reveal that the humble saints are correct and the world is blind to the truth.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when people succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. (Psalms 37:7)
Many American Christians are hoping they can improve our government through the political process. They sincerely want to do what is right. But wicked people are manipulating the polling operation. The wicked shall prevail until we Christians look to God, letting Him know our desires, and waiting patiently for Him. Meanwhile we choose to think about the good things of the Lord rather than to be bitter and irritated.
Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For those who are evil will be destroyed, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land. (Psalms 37:8,9)
Refraining from anger and turning from wrath is going to be quite difficult in the days to come, as we witness our cherished American values being scorned as worthless. Nevertheless, we have been commanded by the Lord to not become angry.
Notice that if we fret we will be led into evil, and that the evil shall be destroyed!
If we place our hope in the Lord, continuing to do good as we have opportunity, we shall inherit the land. This is what our Lord has promised. The meek shall inherit the earth. In spite of all their boasting, the wicked never shall possess the inheritance of Christ and His saints.
I will proclaim the Lord's decree: He said to me, "You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession." (Psalms 2:8,9)
Today the wicked act as though they will inherit America. They parade about displaying their wicked personalities, certain they are sure to gain their desires. But they shall not! In the end they shall be revealed as the servants of Satan, and they shall spend eternity with Satan in the Lake of Fire.
If you would stand in victory, and help others to stand in victory:
Always practice iron, uncompromising righteousness.
Always practice holy thoughts, attitudes, and speech.
Always practice stern unswerving obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.
We Christians are not to attempt to fight fire with fire, to fight evil with evil. Satan is the master of fire, of evil.
We are not to fret and complain, becoming angry at the antics of the wicked.
We are to think about what is lovely and honorable.
We are to rejoice in the Lord always.
We are not to attempt to overcome evil by force and fighting.
We are to patiently wait for God to avenge those who have been harmed by the ungodly.
We are to laugh with God as the dust of the earth attempts to outwit Him.
We are to think continually about the rewards that shall be given to those who patiently obey Christ at this time.
We are to rest in the fact that Christ is in control of all people, circumstances and things.
We are to have total confidence that Christ is with us and never shall leave us or forsake us.
When we see injustice or any other form of wickedness we are to look to the Lord to correct the situation, and wait patiently for Him.
We always are to be gentle, never allowing wicked, violent people to cause us to lower ourselves to act like them.
We always are to remember that God has raised us with Christ to His right hand. Therefore we are not to give way to bitterness and unbelief.
We are to give thanks always, letting God know our requests.
I think the Spirit is saying that much blood will be shed in America in the days to come. In that hour we are not to fear our own death or the death of our loved ones, understanding that if we have been a decent person, and have received Christ when He has been presented to us by the Father, for us or our loved ones to die will be the most joyful of all possible experiences.
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2)