All right, turn back in your Bibles to Deuteronomy. As I said, we're going to look
at several passages of Scripture, but we're going to dwell in Jeremiah
5. Psalm 91. So you may want to
mark those especially. We'll spend the most of our time
in those two passages. Jeremiah 5 and Psalm 91. But first, Deuteronomy 29. Let's
read a few verses here. Deuteronomy 29. Listen carefully if you do not
have a Bible. And everyone in here is aware
of what's been happening lately. And I'm speaking of this school
shooting and why? Why are these things, and it's
on the increase, things like this are just becoming commonplace. Why? We're going to address it. We're going to look at it. Scriptures
are very clear. All right, Deuteronomy 29, verse
24. Let's read verses 24 through 27. Even all nations shall say,
Wherefore hath the Lord done this thus unto this land? What
meaneth the heat of this great anger? Then men shall say, Because
they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers,
which he made with them when he brought them forth out of
the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods
and worshipped them, gods whom they knew not, whom he had not
given to them. The anger of the Lord was kindled
against this land to bring upon it all the curses that are written
in this book. The Lord rooted them out of their land in anger
and in wrath and in great indignation and cast them into another land
as it is this day. Verse 29, the secret things,
though, belong unto the Lord our God. those things which are
revealed unto us and our children, forever, that we may do all the
words of this law, the revealed things unto us and
our children, that we may do and not be ignorant of this book. All right? Chapter thirty-one.
We just read from chapter thirty-one. Look at verse seventeen. Deuteronomy
31, verse 17, Then my anger, when it talks about they go a-whoring
after other gods, forsake or break the covenant, then my anger
shall be kindled against them in that day. I will forsake them.
I will hide my face from them. They shall be devoured. Many
evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in
that day, Are not these evils come upon us? Our God is not among us. Chapter 32, verse 20 and 21,
I will hide my face from them. I'll see what their end shall
be. They're a very forward generation, children in whom is no faith.
They've moved me to jealousy by that which is not God. They've provoked me with their
vanities. Look at verse 20. Eight, they are a nation void of counsel. Nobody's telling them right, and neither is there any understanding
in them. And there you have it. Why are
these evils upon us? Because our God is not among
us. Oh, we've got gods, little G. A lot of religion. Jews never
quit being religious. Well, it turns in Jeremiah 5
now. Jeremiah chapter 5. said this in chapter 1 of Isaiah. He said this is a sinful nation. This is a people laden with iniquity. He said they're evil doers. He said they're corrupt. Their
children are corrupt. He said their whole head is sick
and their whole heart is faint. And you know, you can turn to
any portion of Scripture that describes Israel of old, apostate
Israel, unbelieving, wicked Israel, and apply it to the United States
of America. A sinful nation, people laden
with iniquity, void of understanding, no counsel, a sinful people laden with iniquity. When seven or eight out of ten
persons in this country say that it is not important
that the President of the United States, whether or not he has
any character or not, whether or not he is a man of
his word or not, it doesn't matter. It's not important. When seven
out of ten say It doesn't matter whether he's an immoral man or
not. It doesn't matter. This is a sinful nation, a people
laden with iniquity, a people void of counsel. Ahab reigns. That's what God sent Ahab and
Jezebel. That was his wife. You see, it's just like Israel,
though. Things haven't changed. They
haven't changed. And God wrote it back to Moses
years and years before he even brought him in the land. You
remember Moses said, you're rebellious before we even get there. Remember
that? Before we even get there. And
he said, how much more after I die? The Jews were rebellious
people before Christ came. And after he died, what about
the dark ages and so forth? Well, Jeremiah chapter 5. Jeremiah 5, and I hope you listen
carefully because this is all so relevant. This
is now. This is now. Why is all this
happening? And in the end here of this message,
I want to have a word for believers. The outlook is very bleak concerning
this country. Very dark. But the outlook for believers
is very bright. All right, Jeremiah 5, verse
1, "...run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and
see now, and know, and seek in the broad places there. See if
ye can find a man, if there is any, that executeth judgment,
that seeketh the truth." Run everywhere. Run throughout.
Go visit this place, that place, and the other place. See if there's
anybody who's saying, what's the truth? What's the truth?
What's the truth? Would you tell us truth? Truth.
Truth. Anybody saying truth? Truth. We've got to have truth. I know
it's what the denomination's saying. I know what they're supposed
to preach. What's God saying? Find somebody. Go. Run, run around.
Ask somebody. Anybody talks to you about their
religion? Are they saying, what is the
truth? Run around, try to find somebody.
What's the truth? Do you all preach the truth?
One time, my daughter was just a babe, just four or five years
old. A preacher was on television
preaching. And after a little while, she said, Is he preaching
the truth? Out of the mouths of babes now,
the Lord hath ordained the truth. Nobody, they don't care. What
does it matter? What is truth? What's the big deal about truth? Listen to this. Listen to, as
I quote Isaiah 59. If you want to turn back there,
you can. But Isaiah 59, I quote from verse 4. None calleth for justice,
nor any pleaded for truth. And verse 14 of Isaiah 59 says
a judgment's way backwards. It's just way backwards. Justice
standeth afar off. The truth is falling in the street.
It can't enter. Equity can't enter. They don't
want the truth. They don't want the truth. Truth faileth. Isaiah said it. Jeremiah said
it. Find somebody. You want to know what the problem
is? None call it for truth. Verse 2 of Jeremiah 5. Though they say the Lord liveth, they swear falsely. Though they say Jesus is Lord, they're liars. No preachers are standing up
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. They're liars. They're a bunch of liars. He
ain't no more Lord than you and I am. He doesn't even have any
hands. He didn't save anybody. He can't
save a flea, the Jesus that's being preached today. God is a laughingstock, people. He's a laughingstock. His very
name is on the lips of our children. How bad is it? Why is it like
it is today in this country? Because our very children are
saying, Oh God! With every breath. Why has all
this come upon us? God is not among us. That's why. They've got a God. The Lord liveth.
But they draw near with their lips, their hearts far from them. He said here, he said, Is there
any that execute of judgment? Is there anybody, any thinking
human being in our land? sit down and think and take a
look at the Lord's problems. All that's going on around us.
He's thinking we would be and say, why is this happening? What's
going on here? The increase of calamities and
disasters and hurricanes, droughts, floods, tornadoes, like never
before. Plague after plague after plague.
Did the Egyptians say it? Did the Egyptians stop and say,
why are these flies raining down on us? Why is this hail raining
down on us? Why are these frogs hopping around
here? Why is this drought? Why is this plague? Why is this?
Why is this? Why is this? God's judging the land, that's
why. Is anybody stopping to think
that? Years ago, there was a World Series ball game. They were all
sitting, thousands of people, millions of people watching on
TV. God shook the very stadium they were sitting in. Anybody
stop and say, what's going on here? And we wonder why these things
are happening. God said, I'm going to stand back, I'm going
to let my hand off and see what's going to be your end. That's
saying. God liveth. Verse 3, O Lord, are not thine
eyes upon the truth? Nobody's calling for it, but
isn't that where his eyes are? Isn't that where his spirit is?
Isn't that where the revelation of God is? Isn't that where his
people are? God is where the truth is. The Lord is Spirit. They that
worship Him must worship Him in Spirit, not with flesh and
all this crap in religion, but in the heart of people, from
the heart wanting to know the true God and the true Christ,
in the truth. What's the truth? God's Word
is the truth. His eyes are upon the truth.
Christ said it in John 4. He seeketh such to worship him. Christ said it when the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Will he find anybody's
calling for what's the truth? Is it really that important,
preacher? There are not thine eyes upon
the truth. Look at this, verse 3, Thou hast
stricken them, but they haven't grieved. Why does God strike and smite
and so forth, huh? Sin. Men can't understand, in light
of their penny theology, that all they know of God is love.
And they can't understand how a God of love would do all this.
Why would a God of love do all this? The God of love doesn't
do these things. But holy God, holy, holy, holy. Ignorant of this God. It's the
God of wrath and anger and judgment and justice and truth, who hateth
iniquity, who loveth righteousness. That's the God of the Bible that
men are ignorant of. It's because of sin. Sin. The judgment of God is because
of sin. Don't repent and grieve over it. Read on, verse 3. Thou hast consumed them, but
they refuse to seek correction. AIDS is absolutely just... Millions of people have died
from it, and even more millions, double that, are infected with
it. They're consumed. Have they received
correction? No, they're just waiting on a
vaccine so they can go back to doing what they've been doing. Read on, verse 3, they've made
their faces harder than a rock. Do you remember, you know, a
man dared to stand up and say, this is the judgment of God.
Man, oh man, you have invoked the wrath and anger of this world. What do you mean? God loves me
like I am. God made me this way. I'm a pervert
because that's the way God made me. Set their face like a rock
against what? The truth. Verse 4, Therefore
I said, Surely these are poor. They're poor. Oh, we're not poor
in material goods, are we? There's never been a richer society
ever. This Rome doesn't even come close. The ancient Roman Empire with
all of its wealth, it doesn't even come close to the United
States of America. It doesn't even compare to this
land. This is the most affluent society
ever in the history of mankind. I thought to myself yesterday,
I was in my car and I thought, we couldn't survive without two
automobiles. We couldn't make it. You remember a time years ago,
some of you old folks remember. William and Gladys, you remember
a time when you had, how many children you had? Y'all had about
a hundred. Well, at any rate, you only had
one car, didn't you? One car. How did you do it? What a hard champ. How did you
make it? I don't see how you survived
in one automobile. That's a sign of the richness
and affluence of this country, people. We don't have two, we've
got three or four. Houses and vacation homes in
Egypt. No society has ever lived like
this one. Rich and increasingly, but the
poor. There's never been a poorer country spiritually than this
one. Never. Void of counsel. And all these
preachers, not one of them got a lick of sense. Got all these
counselors, and none of them know the counsel. None of them
stood in the counsel of the Lord and heard Him say what they're
saying. Well, they're foolish. That's
what Jeremiah said, they're foolish. Verse 4, they know not the way
of the Lord. The way. They know not the way
of the Lord, nor the judgment, there you go, nor the way, that
means the gospel, the truth, the life, nor the judgment of
God, judgment of God, judgment of God. I guarantee you, if you
would corner one of these preachers today, or anybody for that matter,
and ask them, Does God love those two boys that slaughtered all
those people with guns? Does God love them? I guarantee you, every one of
them will say, well, yes, God is love. Wouldn't it have to? God loves
everybody. And at these funerals, all they
say is, God's love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love.
Misquoting Scripture, some fellow says, well, you know what the
Scripture says, love is stronger than death. He doesn't say that
anywhere. That's not written in the Scripture.
Love, love, God is love, God is love, God is judgment. God
is holy. God is just. He said, I'm a just
God. And, I say, But first and foremost,
holy, just, righteous, judgment. You ever hear anybody talk about
judgment? Are all these things a judgment of God? No, it's Satan
doing that. It's Satan doing that. Satan.
God didn't want that. It's Satan, Satan, Satan, Satan.
God's love, God's love, God's love. Is that not today? Well, look at verse 5. He said,
I'll get unto the great men and speak unto them. These great
fellows. They're supposed to know something. These fellows
are Bible scholars, you know, seminary graduates. Let's ask
them. Great men. Let's see what they say. Let's
ask their greatest fellow, you know, from North Carolina, whose
name I refuse to mention ever again. Let's ask him. What does
he say? Verse 5. They haven't known the
way of the Lord either, and the judgment of their God. Why, they've
all together broken the yoke and burst the bonds. Does that
sound like Psalm 2 to you? Let's break their bands asunder.
The bonds. They've broken the yoke and burst
the bonds and so forth. What's the yoke and the bond?
That's the ownership of God Almighty over all flesh. Sovereign reign
and rule of God. I'm away with that. Don't need
that. Let's ask these wise men. What
do they say about it? Let's ask him. He'll tell you
my answer. Isn't that the height, Ed, isn't
that the height of arrogance and blasphemy for a man to have
an article in the paper that's supposed to be giving men the
counsel from the Lord and to have it? My answer! Who cares what your answer is? Huh? Who cares what his answer
is? None call it but truth. What's
God to say about it? I'm getting upset because why
are all these things among us? Why? Surely, it's because God's
not here. It's no mystery to me. It shouldn't
be any mystery to you why all this is happening. It should
not be any mystery. The only reason it would be a
mystery is because you don't read this book. And all things are
happening just like God said it would happen. Just like Moses
said, when it happens, this verse will testify against you, because
it's written. It's there for you to read. Well, Jeremiah 5, now he says
in verse 6, a line of the forest will slay them. No, not Christ, Satan. As a roaring
lion speaketh who he may devour. Shall slay them. The wolf. Who's
the wolf? Who's the wolf? He's dressed
in sheep clothing. He's got his ministers. Every one of them goeth out to
be torn to pieces. Every one that goeth out. Listen
to me, young people. said, everyone that go without.
You get yourself out from under the sound of this word right
here, and you're going to be just like you're going to be of this
word. You're going to perish with it. Everyone, everyone, because their
transgressions are many. How shall I pardon? Verse seven,
how shall I pardon thee for this? Children have forsaken me, sworn
By then, no gods, that are no gods, fed them to the fullest. Everything they have of their
breath, their breathing, I gave it to them. Food, clothing, committed
adultery, assembled themselves by troops. Judgment of God. Judgment of
God. I was going to read the rest
of this chapter. I don't have time. Look at verse, let's do read
these verses here. Verses 30 and 31. This is just
amazing. A wonderful and horrible thing
to wonder at and be astonished at. And it's horrible how a thing
is committed in the land of prophets prophesied falsely. I mean, out
and out lies. Priests bear rule by their means.
They're getting rich, making names for themselves at the expense
of the people. And my people love to have That's
amazing, isn't it? You read that, verse 31? Jeremiah
5, verse 31. Did you read it? They're saying
lies, and they're bearing rule, getting rich, and so on. And
people love to have it so. It's a sinful nation. Now, people
of God, believer, is there no good news? Is there no good news
in the midst of all this bad news? Now, this dark cloud that
hangs over this country, is there no silver lining? Oh, yes, there
is. It's bleak for this country.
People, it's not going to get better. It's going to get worse. Psalm 91. Psalm 91, all right? If you're a believer, if you
trust in the Lord, I mean the Lord, Who is Lord before you
ever even knew He was Lord? Who girded thee though you didn't
know Him? Not a Lord you made Lord, but
one who made you know He was Lord. Be Lord if you trust, believe
in, be God. Who is God? Not wants to be,
but is God. Be gospel that doesn't try to
save anybody, but actually saves everybody. The Holy Spirit who
invincibly calls. I've got good news for you. Look
at this, Psalm 91, He that dwelleth in the secret place. Oh, it's
a secret. Did you ever have a secret hiding
place? Did you ever have one? Sarah,
did you ever have a secret hiding place when you were a kid? I did. No girls allowed. The older I got, I only wanted
girls to go. But the secret place, you know,
where only me and my friends can go, only those that I call
and invite and take them and show them that place. What's
this place? Christ said it's hidden from the wise and crooked.
It's the place that God has chosen to put His name there. And Scripture
said over and over and over. A place by me, he said, a secret
place of the Most High, most high, most high, not a low place,
it's a high way where Christ calls his people to come and
they dwell. A secret place of the Most High,
shall it be by he that dwelleth, dwelleth in Christ, in a secret
place. of the Most High God, as the gospel revealed, my God
shall abide and shall lodge under the shadow of the Almighty." The Almighty? Yeah, we just read
that, didn't we, in Revelation 1? He that is and was and is
to come, the Almighty. And David says, who wrote this
psalm, he says, I will say of thee, Lord, thee, Lord, he is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust. In him will I trust. What about you, believer? Read on. Surely he shall deliver
thee from the snare of the fowler. and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his
feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. His truth shall
be thy shield and thy buckler in the fiery dark." His truth.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for
the arrow, boom, boom, boom, that flyeth by day. Thou shalt
not be afraid." Why? For the pestilence that walketh
in the darkness, diseases, the Egyptians' diseases. Moses wrote
about that in Deuteronomy. He wrote about the plagues and
the diseases of the Egyptians. He said to his people, if you
don't go do what the Egyptians do, you won't get their diseases. Young people, be promiscuous. Live outside of what God says,
you might catch AIDS and it might kill you. God said, no sex outside of marriage. Wise men are now figuring this
out. That the only real safe thing
is abstinence and monogamy. How long does it take them to
figure these things out? Well, God wrote it from the beginning.
I mean from chapter 2 of Genesis. Ignorant. Ignorant. Don't care. Don't care. Old-fashioned. We're
above this. Yeah. He'll cover a day, though. Not
for the pestilence it was. Didn't those people out there
say the same thing? And those people in Colorado,
surely there's some believers out there. No, no, I can't say
that. I can't say that. You can't say
that. I choose to believe Psalm 91 for the sake of my house and
my daughter. I will say of the Lord, here's
the key, here's the key now, it's what we've been talking
about, the whole concept of this message, the secret of this message
is, God is not among us. Those that worship God, David
said, I've been young, I'm old, I've never seen a righteous forsaker,
his seed baking bread. Amen. Would you rather live in
fear or live in faith? Psalm 91. Thousand. Oh, I love this verse. What you talking about? Verse
7. Thousand shall fall at thy side.
Ten thousand at thy right hand. It shall not come nigh thee.
You'll see it. Only with thine eye shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. But because thou
hast made the Lord The Lord, which is my refuge, even who
the most high, not the penny and the Jesus, but the Lord thy
habitation. No evil shall befall thee. Young
people, I can say this on the authority of God's Word, you
trust the Lord Jesus Christ. You keep coming here, you keep
worshiping, you keep yourself under the sound of the gospel,
no evil shall befall you. I didn't say that. Can I say
that, parents? Can I say that to our kid? Verse 11, he'll give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee and all thy way. They'll bear
thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone. How are you going to resist temptation? You go off to college, you go
off here, and how are you going to resist the temptation of this
roaring lion, this adder, this snake? How?
How? How are you going to do it? How are you going to tread upon
it? How are you going to walk by it? You can't do it. You can't do it
without this counsel, without the truth. You can't do it. Without
me, you can do nothing, Christ said. Go off on your own, reject
the gospel, God will leave you alone. He'll leave you alone,
and you'll be a prey for the lion and the ant. That's what
his word says. But if you keep yourself under
the sound of God. Save yourself from this untoward
generation. Why do you think he said that?
Why do you think Scripture says, save yourself? from this untoward
generation. Why do you think it says that?
Because there is a place, a secret place of the Most High where
he may dwell and be safe. You see, David dwells in a cave
called Adam. And they were in distress and
those who were depressed and those who were discontent can
fly to him in a cave and he will be a captain over them. And nothing can defeat David. Nobody, not hell or high water,
can defeat our captain. Huh? Give his angels charge over there. Fetching angels to fetch you
and keeping angels to guard you. Ah, verse 14, because he set
his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him. I'll set him on
high, because he hath known my name. He'll call on me, and I'll
answer him. I'll be with him in trouble. Oh, you'll go through
trouble. You'll see trouble. But it'll not be trouble like
this world knows. I'll deliver him and honor him
with long life, and I'll satisfy him. and show him my salvation, my salvation. Well, young people,
let me address you one more time, okay? Let me just read the Scripture,
what it says. And that's all we've done this
morning, isn't it? And, you know, I know, I see
it, I read it, it distresses me. I worry for my daughter some. But, folks, where do I resort? Where do I go? Answers. What answer is there? What help
is there? What protection is there? What
safety is there? What peace is there? What comfort
is there? What consolation is there? This is all. This is it. He says
there's a secret place where you can dwell under the shadow
of the Almighty. Wings. Those little chickens
run around scared to death and run to mama's wing. Huh? He'll
hide you. That's what he's saying. He'll
hide you. I choose to believe it. I sure do. Psalm 37, young people, says,
you trust in the Lord. Now, don't fret yourself because
of the evildoers, because of the workers of iniquity. They'll
be cut off, as soon as they'll be cut off. I'm reading Psalm
37. You trust in the Lord and do
good. You trust in the Lord and do
good, you'll dwell in the land. You'll be fed. You delight yourself
in the Lord, he'll give you the desires of your heart. That is,
seek the Lord first, and all these things will be added to
you. Commit thy way unto the Lord, trust in him, he'll bring
it to pass. Rest in the Lord, wait patiently
for him. Threaten not thyself because
of all this. Evil doers will soon be cut off,
but they that wait upon the Lord. You have the wicked plotters,
so forth, dangers, trials, troubles, and all that, it will not come
nigh today. Can I say that to your children?
Deborah, can I say that to your daughter and son, that they trust
the Lord? Can I say that? Woe is unto me if I don't. always
unto you if you don't. Tell it to your children. Tell
them, why are these things, why do these evils come upon us?
Huh? Why? Is it a mystery? You know, iniquity, if you read
Romans 1 for yourself sometime, Romans chapter 1, you see, God
doesn't send judgment because of Well, because of iniquity, per
se, or the actual open sins, he does it because they're unthankful
and don't acknowledge God. Read Romans 1. Read Romans 1. It's in this order, because they
were not thankful and didn't like to retain God in their knowledge.
They became irreligious, and then God sent
all that stuff. Then he left them alone, and
they became filled with all of this stuff. Read it for yourself.
Read it for yourself. This iniquity and all that is
the judgment of God upon a godless, though religious, but a Godless
nation. It's not going to get better
if God's lifted his hand. Isn't it obvious? Isn't it obvious? Something wrong with our eyesight
if it doesn't, isn't it? But they that trust in the Lord do
not want any good thing. All right, let's sing it. All hail the power of Jesus'
name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Each chosen seed of Israel's
rape he ransomed from the fall. Hail him who saves you by his
grace and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his
grace and crown him Lord of all. Oh, that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting strong
and proud immortal whole. We'll join the everlasting strong
and proud immortal whole. Heavenly Father, we ask your
blessing on the Word that you would keep the fowls of this
air, cares and the riches and so forth from drowning them out. This Word will testify against
us or for us someday. I pray that it might be a saver
of life and to those that have heard it. In Christ's name, amen.