Your Word for Today
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the House of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them who obey not the Gospel of God? And if the Righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (
I Pet. 4:17-18).
After the horror of 9/11/01, when the lives of some 4,000 Americans were snuffed out due to Muslim terrorism, two Preachers of my acquaintance were interviewed over Network Television. They were asked why the Lord allowed this to happen to America.
Their answer was most interesting! Both agreed, “It is because of the homosexuals and the abortionists in this nation!”
That is basely incorrect!
While the two sins mentioned definitely are abominable, as should be overly obvious, that is not the problem in this country. According to the Word of God, the problem is the “House of God.” The Church in America has failed, and failed miserably! The Gospel is little preached from behind fashionable pulpits. The Cross of Christ, the very heartbeat of Christianity, has been relegated to the dustbin of antiquated doctrines, no longer applicable, or so it is said, for this modern age.
What I have just said is, in effect, the same as what Jesus said: “Verily I say unto you, that the Publicans and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you” (
Mat. 21:31). Jesus certainly wasn’t condoning the sins of thievery and harlotry. What He was saying was that while the publicans and the harlots would repent, or at least some of them would, the religious leaders of Israel would not repent (
Mat. 21:32).
Judgment always begins with Believers, and pertains to their Faith, whether in the Cross or otherwise; the Cross alone is spared judgment, for there Jesus was judged in our place.
If God will judge His Own, how much more will He judge the unredeemed? The Cross alone stays the Judgment of God. That must ever be understood.
The modern Church in this country is little preaching the Gospel. If it was preaching the Gospel, i.e., “the Cross,” which, as stated, alone stays the Judgment of God, then this nation would escape much punishment, and could very well have escaped the horror of 9/11/01.
Because it is so important, let us say it again:
If the Church faithfully preaches the Cross, most Judgment can be spared, for there Jesus was judged in our place. If the Cross is little preached, the nation is opened up for Judgment, and that’s exactly what is happening! The Cross of Christ alone stands between man and eternal Hell. We must never forget that (
Eph. 2:13-18;
Gal. 6:14). “
— Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”)
Donnie Swaggart
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