The Moral Demise of America
“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” – Psalm 11:3
By Mike Wingfield
America’s future is like a run-away train careening down a steep mountain track without any means to stop or slow down its momentum. The ultimate crash is inevitable. The train will be destroyed, and all passengers will suffer death or severe injury. It is only a matter of time!
On June 26, just a few days before Americans celebrated their declaration of independence, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to make it a law that all same-sex marriages would be recognized as legally acceptable in all 50 states. As disciples of Jesus Christ who firmly believe the Bible is our final authority in all matters pertaining to life, we are deeply saddened by the Supreme Court’s deadly and foolish decision.
Most Americans, including Christians, do not understand the gravity of this recent decision by the Supreme Court. It is true that our nation has been sliding down the slippery slope of gross immorality for many decades. However, this recent decision by the highest court in the land has come after weeks of deliberate debate and thoughtful consideration. This nation has legally and willfully committed itself to stand in opposition to the eternal commandments of the Holy God of the Bible.
The Lord has ordained that civil government promote His moral laws, in effect, punishing those who practice evil. (Romans 13:1-7) In essence, human government is to operate as the “minister of God” to restrain evil within a society. (See 1 Timothy 2:2) Therefore, with this decision to legally recognize same-sex marriage in America, our nation is removing all moral restraints to a sinful lifestyle that God calls an abomination. The consequences will be deadly and destructive to this nation!
In order to understand the truth that supports these statements, let us look at five Biblical considerations:
The Divine Decree of Good and Evil
Anyone who has read the Bible knows that it is filled with many divine moral commandments. All Biblical moral statements flow out of the character and nature of our holy God. When something is pleasing to God, He declares it to be good. When something is offensive to Him, He declares it to be evil.
The very eternal and infinite essence of the nature of God is summed up in the word “holy.” He declares that His name is holy. (Psalm 111:9) To say He is holy is to proclaim that He is morally perfect and pure. His holiness also declares that He is infinitely set apart from all of His creation. He is set apart in time, space, and matter. (Isaiah 57:15) Only God is perfectly and eternally holy. And, He cannot change! He has declared: “For I am the LORD, I change not.” (Malachi 3:6)
God is holy, or good. Everything He has done is good. At the end of each creative day in the beginning, He said what He had done was “good.” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) 1 John 1:5 declares: “God is light [holy or good], and in him is no darkness [sin or evil] at all.” James 1:13 says that “God cannot be tempted with evil.” God cannot sin. “…far be it from God, that he should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity.” (Job 34:10)
All of God’s Word, the written revelation we call the Bible, is eternally true, perfect, and pure. (Psalm 19:7-9; Matthew 5:18) God’s Word cannot be changed, or altered by anyone. (Proverbs 30:5-6; John 10:35) Those who tamper with changing or altering God’s Word will face divine judgment. (Revelation 22:18-19) The Bible has complete and final authority in all matters. (Psalm 119:89; Isaiah 55:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17)
Therefore, it is defiant, open rebellion to suppress, change, or discredit the Word of God. Read Psalm 2:1-3. This is exactly what is happening in America at this very hour. The highest court in our land has just declared acceptable what God says is an abomination and wicked! Now, read Psalm 2:4-12 to see what God says He will do when nations rebel against Him and reject His commandments.
The Need for Restraint from Evil
All sin and wickedness are deadly. (Romans 6:23) All sin seems normal and natural to the wicked human heart. (Proverbs 14:12) Evil resides in the inner man of every person from the days of their childhood. In Genesis 8:21, God affirmed: “for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”
Human beings are not spiritually good. They are evil. In Romans 3, the Holy Spirit takes all of humanity into the courtroom of God and proclaims that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) While examining the evidence that leads to this verdict, the Scriptures expose the evil human heart with these words: “There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) Jeremiah 17:9 declares, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”
Contrary to modern thinking, we are not the product of our environment. According to the Bible, we were all conceived and born with a deadly sin nature that is bent toward rebellion against God and all of His moral standards. (Psalm 51:5; 58:3) Jesus, who knows everything about us, revealed our evil nature when He said: “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man.” (Matthew 15:19-20) Sin is always lurking within the soul of man. Without a divine moral restraint, our daily lifestyle would be filled with evil thoughts, actions, and words.
We must realize that the greatest danger to mankind is man himself. The first death was the result of Cain murdering his brother. (Genesis 4:8) The pages of history are filled with bloody conflicts that range from the personal to the global. On any given day, we all face the possibility of being killed by another person. In 14 centuries, Islamic jihadists have murdered 270 million innocent people. (www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3010498/posts) It is estimated that 100 million people were killed by Communists in the 20th century. The death toll during World War I was 17 million. In World War II, 60 million were killed. Needless to say, these statistics do not give us a complete picture of all of the brutality, violence, destruction, and misery produced by war and terrorism.
In America, there seems to be no safe haven from violence. People are being killed in their mother’s womb, in their home, at school, on the road, at work, or at a shopping mall. In the latest issue of the American Hunter, Wayne La Pierre, the Executive Vice President of the National Rifle Association, comments: “Violence in the nation’s inner cities is spiraling out of control, smothering the lives of innocent citizens, who live in constant fear of the thugs who rule their street and neighborhoods.” (Wayne La Pierre, American Hunter, August 2015, p. 12)
We know that the Lord is looking down from His heaven and He sees all of the good and evil every day. (Proverbs 15:3) I am sure that His heart is grieved as He sees the hatred, violence, rape, terrorism, and bullying that is pervading every facet of our culture in most of the nations, and especially here in America. If we stop to think about all of this, we can conclude that man’s most threating enemy is not natural disasters or diseases; it is man himself.
The Divine Means of Restraint
The Lord hates violence, murder, and war. The second most important commandment in the Bible is: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” (Matthew 22:39) The Lord has instructed us: “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18)
Consequently, the Bible teaches that the Lord has established several means of restraint to keep evil at a minimum in a society. On a personal level, the Lord has given every person a conscience to instruct and warn them concerning the consequences of evil choices. (Romans 2:14-15) We are instructed to feed our conscience the Word of God so that it will instruct us to fear God and to hate evil. (Psalm 119:11, 30, 38, 105, 133) At the same time we are commanded to guard our conscience from evil influences. (Proverbs 4:23-27) The Bible teaches that this is vital to our protection from evil, and to the promotion of a godly walk with God. (Proverbs 4:23; 1 Timothy 1:5) According to the Bible, when a person does not heed their conscience, it will defile, weaken, and silence his inner spiritual warning system. After constantly suppressing the Word of God and the persistent warning of his conscience, a person reaches a point where his conscience stops functioning. (Romans 1:18-28; 2 Timothy 4:3) It is at this point that the Spirit of God stops striving with him (Genesis 6:3), and God gives him over to his own sinful desires. In essence, this person is open to demonic possession (1 Timothy 4:1-3) and inverts reality, calling evil good, and good evil. Love is replaced with hate. Gentleness is superseded by brutality. Obedience is traded for lawlessness. Moral purity is substituted with sexual immorality. The love for life is supplanted with a bizarre and unnatural attraction of death. At the final end of this road of death, God becomes Satan and Satan becomes a god.
To help promote a godly conscience, God has chosen to place humans, unlike animals, under the guardian protection of their parents for many years. The role of the parent is to prepare their children to live independently of them. Parents must prepare their children for adulthood to function in the world in which they live. At the heart of all of this God has ordained that parents are to shape the conscience of their children. (Proverbs 4-6) This is vital to the child’s future, both now and in eternity. According to God’s divine plan, parents are to promote a godly conscience by modeling and teaching their child the Word of God on a daily basis. (Deuteronomy 6:1-9) They are to protect their child from evil influences that defile their child’s conscience. Godly parents will always protect their children by overseeing their education, choice of friends, books they read, programs they watch, music they hear, games they play, and the church they attend.
The Lord has also chosen the church to be a very vital restraining influence in a society. Godly believers, living out the holy Word of God, act as salt and light in their world of darkness and decadence. (Matthew 5:13-16) As light, we impact the consciences of those around us, reminding them of the holiness of God. As salt, we act as a restraining influence as we promote and model God’s moral standards. Consequently, the church is to be set apart from the world in its message and in the lifestyles of its members, reflecting the holy standards of God. When the church begins to follow or copy the world’s godless lifestyle, it ceases to restrain that society from evil.
As professing churches in America ordain homosexuals for leadership in the church, they are defying God’s moral laws and in effect defiling the conscience of America concerning sexual immorality. The Bible teaches that those who lead the church are to watch over the souls of those in their flock, because they will give an account to the Lord on the judgment day. (Hebrews 13:17) Leaders in the church are to meet strict godly requirements because as shepherds they lead their flock by their personal example. (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-6) It is my personal opinion that this lies at the core of America’s departure from the Lord.
God has also called human government to be a tool for helping to shape a godly moral conscience in a culture. (Romans 13:1-5; 1 Timothy 2:1-2; 1 Peter 2:13-14) All human governments have been ordained by God to promote God’s moral laws as a “minister of God to [their society] for good.” (Romans 13:4) Governments are to protect their citizens from evil by executing “wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Romans 13:4) When governments reverse good and evil and punish the righteous and reward the wicked, they cease to be a restraining influence on evil and begin to promote a lifestyle that destroys the collective conscience of their citizens. When this happens, that society will become lawless, violent, brutal, sensual, wicked, deceitful, arrogant, and filled with hate. (Romans 1:29-31)
The Wickedness of Sexual Immorality
The Lord has created us as sexual creatures. He looks with approval upon sex within the marriage covenant of a man and woman. (Hebrews 13:4) He performed the first marriage between Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:21-23) God instituted the divine pattern of marriage with the words: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) During His earthly ministry, Jesus taught about marriage by quoting from the first two chapters in Genesis. (Matthew 19:4-6) God’s design and purposes for marriage have not changed since the beginning of time. And, they never will!
The Lord has given us our sexuality within marriage for procreation (Genesis 1:28) and pleasure. (Proverbs 5:15-19) His revelation consistently condemns all sexual activity outside the covenant of a marriage of a man and woman. The seventh commandment declares, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exodus 20:14) The moral law that God gave to Israel clearly forbade all sexual activity outside of marriage, and declared it to be wicked, and an offense to God. (Leviticus 20:10-21)
The Lord explicitly declared that same-sex activity was an abomination in His eyes. (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13) The Hebrew words translated “abomination” communicate that the activity mentioned is a stench in the nostrils of God. It is something He passionately detests. The Bible also states that homosexuality is “wicked.” (Genesis 13:13; 18:23, 25; 19:7; 2 Peter 2:7) The Hebrew word translated wicked speaks of moral confusion that “confounds all right and wrong, just and unjust, truth and falsehood, good and evil; or to think and act as if there were no difference of persons, things, or actions.” (William Wilson, Old Testament Word Studies, p. 481) According to the Bible, those who commit acts of wickedness are always in opposition to God and are headed for divine judgment. (Psalm 10:4, 6, 11; Psalm 11:5-6) Please notice that when God indicted the generation of Noah’s day that would be destroyed in the global flood, He said: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5)
Homosexuality is the ultimate expression of self-love. Its aim is sexual self-gratification. Self-love is one of the defining sins of the last days. Its promotion will set in motion a perilous time of lawlessness when people will reject the authority of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-9)
In Romans 1, homosexuality (see verses 26-27) is viewed as the final mark of a culture that is suppressing the word of God (verse 18), and has reached a point where their collective conscience “was darkened.” (verse 21) In divine judgment, the Lord repeatedly declares that He has given this culture over to their depraved way of thinking to destroy themselves as they enjoy their destructive sins. (verses 24-32) In essence, this culture is void of a godly conscience and is in a mode of self-destruction.
When a culture has reached this spiritual point of no return, it makes the ministry of the church very difficult. Without a conscience, the Spirit of God cannot strive with man (Genesis 6:3) to bring him to repentance. True godly salvation always begins with guilt and shame over one’s sin against the very God that loves him and died for him. This is the initial work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the sinner. Jesus reminded His disciples that when the Holy Spirit would come, He would, “reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” (John 16:8) So, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3) The true church must depend upon the work of the Holy Spirit in the conscience of man, to prepare the heart of man to receive the Word of God. (Matthew 13:1-23) The aim of this effectual Word of God is a change in the heart of man, transforming him into the image of Christ. (James 1:21-25)
This is the Prelude to Persecution
When a culture reaches the point when its collective conscience is seared, it will promote evil, and reject that which is righteous or good. As previously mentioned, this makes the ministry of the church very difficult. Psalm 11:3 says, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Notice that in the context of Psalm 11, when a society reaches the point of no return, the wicked will attack the righteous. “For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may [in the darkness of their heart] shoot at the upright in heart.” (Psalm 11:2)
When the consciences of men have been darkened, they hate the light that exposes their sin. Jesus said: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” (John 3:19-20) Notice that Jesus said that those who are living in darkness will reject and hate the light. Several years later, as Jesus was about to die and leave His disciples, He warned them of the world’s violent rejection that would be aimed at them. (John 15:18-16:4) In this text, Jesus warned His disciples that the world would hate them and eventually kill them because, as light, they would expose the sins of men.
The Bible teaches that hatred in the heart of a man will usually lead to murder. (1 John 3:15) This especially happens in a culture that has reached the spiritual point of no return, when reality has been inverted, and good becomes evil and evil becomes good.
Friends, some very dark days lie ahead for America and the true church in America. Every restraining influence the Lord has created is being weakened and destroyed. Our marriages and homes are collapsing. Our churches are adopting the wicked American culture as their standard. Our government has now willfully determined to promote wickedness in America. We can expect more lawlessness, perversion of God’s laws, hatred and violence, and the promotion of all forms of sexual sins.
According to the prophetic Word of God, these days are setting the stage for the most horrific time ever on planet earth. (Matthew 24:6-22) As people who thirst after righteousness, peace, and moral purity we don’t have much hope for this present generation or our world in general. As the perilous times close in on us, we can take refuge in the promises of God. He has promised to those who keep His Word: “I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.” (Revelation 3:10) Jesus is coming at any hour to take us out of this godless world and into His glorious presence. When He takes the true light and salt out of this world, there will be no restraining influence left to obstruct evil. (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7) “And then shall that Wicked [lawless one- the Antichrist] be revealed.” (2 Thessalonians 2:8) The Antichrist will promote lawlessness. He will promote hate, violence, murder, deception, and the worship of Satan. (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10)
After seven long years of lawlessness, wickedness, and violence, the Lord will return to establish His kingdom upon this earth. There has never been a purer and more powerful restraining influence in this world than the Messiah, who will reign over the nations of the world from His throne in Jerusalem. His law will go forth from Jerusalem. (Isaiah 2:3) There will be no more violence or war. (Isaiah 2:4; 60:18) “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.” (Isaiah 11:9) Jesus will not tolerate any lawlessness because He will rule the world with the sharp sword of His Word, and “a rod of iron.” (Revelation 19:15) Finally, the light and glory of the Lord will shine forth over all the earth. (Isaiah 60:1)
As we long for our king, let us cry out: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Revelation 22:20) “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10) Until then, remember: “Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy.” (Psalm 33:18) May our Lord give us great wisdom as we wait with great hope for His return! Be ready for the shout that will take us out!
If you are not saved, now is the time to call out in repentance and ask the Lord to save you, before it is too late!
The Deadly Iranian Deal
The Western powers, led by the U.S. administration, have concluded their negotiations with Iran concerning its nuclear program. Anyone who understands the publically stated goals of the apocalyptic radical Iranian Shiite leadership knows that this final agreement is a grave mistake. This plan demonstrates that the Obama administration has accepted Iran as the new regional leader in the Middle East. An article by Efraim Inbar, a professor of political studies at Bar-Ilan University, and the director of the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, and a fellow at the Middle East Forum, states: “The American decision to accept Iran as a nuclear-threshold state, and Obama’s statements in favor of a ‘responsible Iranian role’ in the region, accompanied by an inflated American threat perception of ISIS – signal a most significant change in American Middle East foreign policy. This accord marks an end to Iran’s regional isolation. Instead, America seems to be siding with the Shiites against Sunnis. This move changes dramatically the regional balance of power, instilling even greater uncertainty in regional politics.” (www.meforum.org/5381/israel-iran-war, July 15, 2015)
This agreement ignores the Iranian role in terrorist activities against Israel and the Sunni Muslims in the region. It makes no demands for Iran to change its course as a terrorist state and treats it as a normal state in the most dangerous region in the world.
In essence, Iran is allowed to continue with its nuclear program without any significant restrictions. “US Secretary of State John Kerry has in fact admitted that Iran might be just three months away from a nuclear bomb within the framework of the nuclear agreement. In doing so, the US has totally ignored UN Security Council Resolution 1696 of July 2006, which demanded that Iran suspend enrichment activities, as well as American demands for the dismantlement of the nuclear facilities.” (www.besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/six-strikes-against-the-nuclear-deal-with-iran/, July 15, 2015)
Within a few days after this agreement, large crowds gathered in Tehran chanting “Death to America,” and “Death to Israel.” In spite of this stated aggression, on Monday, July 21, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution to accept the Iranian accord.
“Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Ron Prosor, highlighted [the] UN decision as ‘a very sad day’ because the international community ‘awarded a great prize to the most dangerous country in the world. … In future years, the consequences of this mistake will become clear to all. But for Israel, tomorrow is already too late.” (www.breakingisraelnews.com/45621/irans-deputy-fm-p51-knew-keep-arming-allies-middle-east/#cubyIOejPBtWg7Qv.99)
This deal has demonstrated the political weakness and spiritual foolishness of the United States to the entire world. It has set in motion a dangerous proliferation of nuclear weapons in the most dangerous region in the world. The only hope for the region and the world against this deadly decision is an Israeli intervention to temporarily halt Iran’s march toward acquiring a nuclear weapon. Israel cannot afford to wait much longer because they know they are Iran’s primary target. Pray for the Lord to give great wisdom to the Israeli leadership, which seems to be united in their assessment of this Iranian threat.
This agreement with Iran by the United States and other Western powers has radically altered the future of our world. As many of you know, I have been writing about these developments for a number of years. I personally believe that this situation has the potential to drastically change the course of events in the Middle East and the entire world. It could likely set in motion a series of events that could suddenly and uniquely set the stage for the end-time events, and especially the Gog and Magog invasion of Israel mentioned in Ezekiel 38-39