SIN OF WHICH WE MUST REPENT IF WE TRULY WANT GOD TO HEAL OUR LAND
(Part 1) by David Maddox
This first sin is one I can honestly say few if any Christians are not guilty of now – and if not – we (not they) have been guilty in the past and if we are not careful will be in the future. Nearly all sin is bound up in this sin and it is why you see so little of the power of God in the world today. So please stay with me and let God speak to you about you – if you truly want revival to come to American and the world. Otherwise stop the study now for it will increasingly get uncomfortable as the Holy Spirit (not me) exposes sin in your life.
Remember our base passage – 2 Chronicles 7:14 – we (Believers) must individually and corporately humble ourselves by submitting to the searching light of the Holy Spirit – pray for that search to be completely revealing of any sin from God’s perspective – seek an encounter with Him such as that revealed in Isaiah 6 (seek My face) – then as God reveals sin we must confess and “turn from (our) wicked ways”. It is never enough simply to be sorry. Judas Iscariot was so sorry for what he had done that he killed himself. Peter on the other hand was sorry, but that sorrow led to him humbling himself and turn from his wicked ways (denying the Lord three times).
So what is the first sin that God revealed to me that is the base sin for all Christian sin? It is that we have believed Satan and not Jesus regarding His first statement in response to His initial temptation. Remember – Jesus answered Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4). As early as the temptation of Eve in the garden Satan responds, “Did God actually say” – and then he calls God a liar and explains in human wisdom why what God said can’t be true. Eve bought Satan’s lie and here we sit in sin and darkness – living under God’s curse (Genesis 3:1-19). That reality alone should have made us realize we cannot safely ignore anything God says – but we have – and we do – and individually and collectively we live with the consequences of calling God a liar.
Jesus made two clear points in His response to Satan which are group in His statement. As Believers we are to “live” (draw our life from) “every” word that comes from the mouth of God. For a Believer “life” is in God’s Word – but to receive that life – we must live in “every” word that comes from the mouth of God. Unfortunately today’s Believers, like Eve, think that they can ignore or modify some of what God says to fit their chosen beliefs or needs or to protect another from their sin.
Before you say that this does not apply to me – a simple example will prove to most that it is does. Genesis 1-2 declares that God created everything by speaking it into existence. Hebrews 11:3 explains what that means – “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” In Revelation 4 we find a picture of all Believers in Heaven before the Throne crying out, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:11).
How dangerous is it for a Christian to reject Scripture just because it may not make sense to us or some “scientist” says we are crazy and wrong? The Book of Revelation is the only book in the Bible that contains a specific blessing and a curse. The blessing applies to one who would read it aloud and to the one who hears it and obeys. Two of the last verses in the Bible contain this specific warning from John – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19).
I don’t know how you react to that – and I would never attempt to explain it beyond what is says – but I can tell you that the fear of the Lord falls on me when I read those words and I never want to disagree with God’s Word about anything. Creation is only the beginning. Our culture and the modern church has read and reread and reinterpreted what God says to make us comfortable and tolerant of what God calls sin. If God is truly a God who can provide me with eternal life – if He is the King of kings and Lord of lords – then He is the God who defines “truth” and who sets the “standards” by which we are to live – and they are not negotiable. As His follower, I don’t have the right to disagree with anything He clearly says – every word.
So here is you assignment – if you truly care about America and our lost millions – about you children and grandchildren – humble yourself and take a blank piece of paper and go before the Lord (seeking His face) asking in prayer for the Holy Spirit to reveal the times you have ignored – modified – or had a different opinion from what God’s Word says on any subject and write them down as God reveals them. Go really slow. This is not a one hour or day project. Make this a part of your regular Fellowship Time with the Lord until God says He is finished. Then go through the list carefully – confess and “turn from your wicked ways” (that is how God sees you calling Him a liar). What in reality could be more wicked than calling God a liar and then expecting His blessing?
About David Maddox – After a legal career in both Texas and Arizona that spanned over 40 years as a civil litigator, God called David to leave his law practice and work full time as Discipleship Director for Time to Revive. That call is really the fruit of decades of prayer for revival and teaching God’s Word, writing discipleship materials and seeking to make disciples. David married Janet Whitehead in 1976 and they minister together from their Phoenix home. God has blessed them with four children and thus far seven grandchildren.
