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By: Donnie Swaggart
II Chronicles 7:12-16 – “And the LORD appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place to Myself for an House of Sacrifice. (The Lord not only answered Solomon’s prayer by a manifestation of the fire falling from Heaven, but, as well, He portrayed what He will do, as it regards Solomon’s petition, and in no uncertain terms.
“As well, we find here that the Lord referred to the Temple as a ‘House of Sacrifice.’ We should take note that the modern church should fall into the same category, inasmuch as our Message should be, ‘Jesus Christ and Him Crucified’
[I Cor. 1:23]. The Cross must be the primary Message [Rom. 6:3-14; I Cor. 2:2].)
[I Cor. 1:23]. The Cross must be the primary Message [Rom. 6:3-14; I Cor. 2:2].)
“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I sent pestilence among My People (if the Lord does such a thing, it will be because of sin, always because of sin);
“If My People, who are called by My Name (Believers), shall humble themselves (humility), and pray, and seek My Face (the prayer of Repentance), and turn from their wicked ways (which proclaims the manner of true Repentance); then will I hear from Heaven (but not otherwise), and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land (God’s Prescription for spiritual sickness).
“Now My Eyes shall be open, and My Ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. (As well, prayer from a distance being made toward this place would be answered.
“Due to what Christ did at the Cross, the Lord no longer resides in a building, but rather in the hearts and lives of Believers [I Cor. 3:16]. Now we pray to the Father up in Heaven, and do so in the Name of Jesus [Jn. 16:23].)
“For now have I chosen and sanctified this House, that My Name may be there forever: and My Eyes and My Heart shall be there perpetually (literally, until the Cross; in general, forever, because the Lord now lives in our hearts and lives [I Cor. 3:16]).”
The Apostle Paul writing in II Timothy, Chapter 3, Verse 1, said, “This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come.” This is referencing the days in which we live, the coming end of the Church Age. The word “perilous” means “difficult” or “dangerous.” As I write this, I’m writing a couple of months prior to its publish date of July, and at the time of my writing in the same week we had the disaster of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the attempted terrorists’ strike in Times Square in New York City. Both of these events are perfect examples of the “perilous times” in which we live.
As well, it’s an interesting note that while these events were taking place in May, a Federal Judge in Wisconsin ruled that our Nation’s Day of Prayer, held every year on the first Thursday of May, was declared unconstitutional.
As I don’t believe in coincidence, I have to wonder, is the Lord growing tired of us thumbing our nose in His Face? Are we reaping what we sow?
Thank God that our leaders in times past had the foresight and wisdom to acknowledge that we must have the help of God. And if there was ever more a time that prayer is needed, it’s now. Our beloved Union is in trouble. We are a Nation fragmented and divided, as powerful forces are doing everything in their power to change our Nation from that in which it was founded, the Principles of “In God We Trust”, to that of a godless, secularist society. Our Founding Fathers, from the very beginning, meant for this Nation to be birthed with the Word of God as its compass, its law, and its liberty.
Our Nation is reeling from the efforts of nine years of one disaster after another. September 11, 2001 our Nation was attacked by Muslim terrorists resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 Americans, and is this generation’s “Pearl Harbor.” From that we have engaged in a war upon two fronts that has cost this Nation trillions of dollars with nothing to show for it, except the loss of life and limb of America’s best, our men and women of our Armed Forces.
Natural disasters have followed, an economic meltdown, an Administration that has saddled the American taxpayers with so much debt, that if not handled, we will reach the place where our Economic System collapses.
If one wants to truly know the condition of our Nation, then one needs to go to God’s Word and read the words of the Prophet Isaiah, Chapter 1, Verses 2 through 8:
“Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O Earth: for the LORD has spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against Me.
“The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, My People do not consider.
“Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children who are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.
“Why should you be stricken anymore? you will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
“From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.
“Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
“And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.”
The head and the heart represent the intellectual and moral nature of man. Morally and intellectually America is bankrupt. We are a Nation that will spend millions of dollars, and impose fines and even incarceration to protect the rights of animals, yet we have no problem aborting the lives of 1.2 million of our most innocent citizens, our unborn babies, each year. That’s 12 million innocent lives murdered since 2000. The blood of the unborn is upon the hands of America.
We are thumbing our noses at God by promoting same-sex marriage, and destroying one of God’s most prized creations, the Family Unit.
Let me say it again, our beloved Nation is sick and diseased with sin. We have lost our way, and why has the Nation lost its way? The answer is because the church has lost its way.
As the church goes, so goes the nation. The nation is always a reflection of the condition of the church.
What Isaiah said goes for the church as well. The nation is sick because the church is sick.
We have left the Altar, we have left the old paths. We have cast aside the old Altar, and erected a new altar. We have forged new paths.
The church is following another Jesus, proclaiming another gospel, anointed by another spirit, the spirit of the Antichrist.
For America to make it, the church must repent. We must come back to the Bible, and to the Cross. The church must repent of its idolatry, its love and pursuit of mammon, its embrace of false gods, and return to the Cross.
The Cross is at the heart of my text. Notice the words of the Lord beginning in Verse 12.
“HOUSE OF SACRIFICE”
Despite the fact that the Temple was the most costly structure in the world, still, the Holy Spirit alludes to it rather as a “House of Sacrifice.”
Despite the fact that there was more gold in this building than any other structure in the world, still, the Holy Spirit now makes no mention of that whatsoever, again referring to the Temple as a “House of Sacrifice.”
Despite the fact that everything carried on in this House was of supreme significance, still, the Holy Spirit refers to it as a “House of Sacrifice,” which refers to the real purpose of this structure.
As we have said, and will continue to say, the Cross of Christ is the foundation of the entirety of the Plan of God, actually formulated in the Mind of the Godhead from before the foundation of the world (I Pet. 1:18-20). While all other things that pertain to the Lord are vastly significant, as should be obvious, still, it is the Cross of Christ that is at the very center and circumference of the Plan of God. In other words, every other doctrine, every other principle, every other premise, all and without exception, must be built upon the foundation of the Cross. If that is not the case, error will be the result, which means that God cannot bless it. He can only bless that which has the Cross of Christ as its foundation, and its foundation alone!
All of this means that the great Brazen Altar, thirty feet long and thirty feet wide, which sat immediately in front of the Temple, was in use 24 hours a day. Actually, the fires on that Altar were to never go out. As well, the four horns that protruded on the Altar, and did so from each corner, pointed to all points of the compass, telling us that what Jesus would do at the Cross, would be for the entirety of the world (Jn. 3:16). This means that this great Gospel is for the entirety of mankind. It shows no preference or prejudice as it regards skin color, nationality, or creed. Jesus died for all! In fact, in the Mind of God there are only two races of people in this world, those who are Saved, and those who aren’t.
If it is to be noticed, the answer that the Lord gave to Solomon began with the Cross of Christ, i.e., the “House of Sacrifice.”
THE ELEMENTS
In Verse 13, the Holy Spirit plainly portrays to us that God rules all. He has the Power to shut up heaven that there be no rain, and the Power to open heaven that there be copious showers. He can Command the insects to “devour the land,” or He can give abundant crops.
As well, He can send pestilence and sickness among the people, or He can stop it from coming to the people.
All of this means, that anything and everything that happens to a Child of God, is either caused or allowed by the Lord. While, of course, the Lord never causes sin, if a person is dead set upon committing sin, the Lord will allow such, but, as always, the end result of sin is never pretty. Even though the Lord will forgive and do so instantly, still, there is a price to pay for disobedience, and the church and the Nation has disobeyed.
However, the Lord has provided a remedy, and that remedy is Repentance.
“IF”
Verse 14, which is the only hope for the nation and the church, begins with the little word “if.” This little two letter word is powerful, and let me explain why.
“If” is a conjugation tying a thought together, meaning “if” we do something, then there will be a proper response. Here the Lord is telling us in no uncertain terms that if we do what is right, then He will do what is right and needful. That which is right is Repentance. Let’s break it down this way:
• “If”: “We Shall Humble Ourselves” – Humility is us knowing and understanding that we don’t deserve the Goodness of the Lord, there is nothing in us that is good or noble. We deserve wrath and Judgment. Humility can also be defined as “seeing ourselves as God sees us.”
• “If”: “We Pray” – Prayer is the Christian’s method of Divine Communication between us and the Lord. Prayer is us seeking the help, guidance, and hope that only the Lord can provide.
• “If”: “We Seek His Face” – This speaks of an earnest desire to know what the Lord desires, to learn what the Lord wants us to do.
• “If”: “We Turn From Our Wicked Ways” – The wicked way is the church seeking the ways of man and not the Way of the Cross.
THE LORD’S RESPONSE
If we do those things the Lord requires, then this is what His Response will be:
• “Then”: “Will I Hear From Heaven” – Heaven is the place of all wisdom and knowledge. Our help comes from Above. We can have Heavenly Wisdom, Knowledge, and Help or we can rely on the wisdom, knowledge, and help of man.
• “Then”: “I Will Forgive Their Sin” – Simply put, we have sinned and we must repent.
• “Then”: “I Will Heal Their Land” – This is what we need; this is our only hope. Our land needs healing, and Repentance is the only way for this healing to come about.
I BELIVE ISRAEL IS THE CENTER OF GOD'S WORLD AND HIS WORD AND THATS WHY JESUS CHRIST DIED THERE" THAT IS GOD'S HOLY LAND" WE WILL KNOW THE END BY WHAT THE WORLD BRINGS UPON THE HOLY LAND" MASS ARMIES SHALL COME AGAINST HER "BUT SHALL NOT STAND UP IN VICTORY BECAUSE GOD WILL SAVE OUR HOLY LAND "ALL JESUS HAS TO DO IS WHEN HE RETURNS IS SPEAK ONE WORD" IT WILL BE FINISHED FOR THOSE WHO REBELL AGAINST THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS" JESUS CHRIST" SATINS DAYS ARE NUMBERED"AND HE KNOWS IT" GOD GAVE HIM ENOUGH TIME FOR EVEN THE DEVIL COULD HAVE ASK GOD TO FORGIVE HIM"AND RETURN TO HIS 1ST LOVE" THE SAME AS THE CHURCH" GOD IS A FORGIVING GOD" WHY DO YOU THINK HE HAS ALLOWED SATIN TO LIVE AS LONG AS HE HAS" GOD COULD HAVE PUT AN END TO THE ENEMY A LONG TIME AGO"HE MADE HIM "HE CAN DESTROY HIM AS WELL" AS GOD DESTROYED THE WORLD"HE COULD HAVE DESROYED SATIN AND HIS ANGELS" LONG AGO" BUT GOD NOW HAS GIVEN US FREE WILL TO SEE WHO IS WITH THE FATHER" OR WHO IS WITH THE DEVIL" I BELIEVE THATS WHY THE MARK OF THE BEAST IS THE FINAL CHOICE" FOR ANYONE TO CHOOSE SIDES" TAKE IT"YOU CHOOSE SIDES AGAIST GOD" I HAVE CHOSSEN TO TAKE UPON MY FOREHEAD THE SEAL OF GOD" HE HIS MY FATHER IN HEAVEN AND JESUS CHRIST IS MY BROTHER" WHO GAVE HIS LIFE FOR ME TO BE SAVED BY HIS BLOOD" THE DEVIL HAS NO POWER OVER ANYONE UNLESS THEY GIVE IT TO HIM BY REFUSING TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL THIER HEART AND BEING SAVED" RETURN TO THY 1ST LOVE AS JOHN SAID" GOD: THE CREATOR: BROTHER GIL: