Why Do The Heathen Rage?
by David J. Stewart
Click for music in new window
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us" ~Psalm 2:1-3
The preceding Old Testament Scripture is quoted in the New Testament...
"Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?" ~Acts 4:24–25
Notice Acts 4:26, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ."
Mankind's Sinful Nature is Against God
Mankind has always been against God and His Word. God uses men for His purposes. We read in Acts 4:26-28 that is was God who controlled all the events in Christ's crucifixion, "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done." No man could have laid a hand upon Jesus if it had not been God's divine will. Nevertheless, the Bible says that there was a conspiracy against Jesus to destroy him (Herod, Pilate, the gentiles and Israel). That conspiracy has continued over the centuries against the disciples of Christ, Christians. The animosity has been snowballing as it has come down through the centuries, and it will break out finally in a worldwide revolution against God and His Children. Just as the lost world hated Jesus Christ, so it hates His disciples. "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Timothy 3:12).
Those Who Love Sin, Hate God
Why do the heathen rage? Why are they so adamant against the Lord Jesus? John 3:20 tells us, "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:20). Mankind loves sin! A man would rather burn in hell for an eternity, than to repent from his sins and come to the Lord for forgiveness. Notice, I did not say "give up" his sins--there's a big difference. To be saved, one must condemn his own sins; thus, in so doing he has repented (or changed his mind about his sinful condition). "Repentance" is a "change of mind" about yourself, your sins and the Savior. Whereas you used to reject Jesus, think you were a good person and think sin was acceptable--Now you accept Jesus, realize your a wicked sinner and condemn the sins in your life. The Hue Hefner's and the Madonna's of the world love their sins and REFUSE to see themselves as sinful. They REFUSE to come to Christ, " lest his deeds should be reproved" (John 3:20). They REFUSE to repent! They REFUSE to change their mind about their sinful lifestyles (fornication, adultery, nudity, filthiness, lasciviousness, greed, lust, sodomy, drunkenness, etc, etc.) They are servants of Satan!
I hear worldly people all the time trying to rationalize their sins. They say, "What's wrong with smoking, tobacco grows naturally doesn't it?" And doggy-doo-doo is natural also but you don't eat it do you? They say, "Adam and Eve were naked and not ashamed, so why should I feel ashamed for posing nude in a porno magazine?" Because Adam and Eve were the only two people in the world at the time. Do you see how foolish the hearts of the wicked can be? There is NO justification for sin--NONE. Just because you are poor does NOT give you the right to steal. Just because you grew up in a cruel home does NOT give you the right to abuse your family. Just because someone cheated you does NOT give you the right to be a crook. We must all stand individually before our Creator in judgment. "So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12). Do right! Do right! Though the stars fall, do right!
Mankind is Prone to Destruction
I believe the world is fast approaching the end. With all the nuclear warheads and wars breaking out across the globe, how much longer can this world last as is. If you think we are entering into a new-age, where the world will enjoy a one-world agenda, economy, religion and government--your nuts! Oh, it will happen, but it will be the beginning of the end. The end being that snowball I mentioned earlier--a worldwide revolution against God. They will be put down and destroyed at the battle of Armageddon. There will NEVER be true lasting peace in this world until the Lord Himself reigns as King from Jerusalem.
War is a heart-disease amongst humanity. People's hearts are evil and set to do mischief. A young Palestinian mother recently blew herself up in a homicide bombing in Israel. Her little baby left with no mother. Can you really tell me that you believe this will come to an end? It surely will not! Not until Jesus returns to take control. India and Pakistan, North and South Korea, China and Taiwan, Israel and Palestine, Afghanistan and the U. S., Iran and Iraq...we just can't get along.
Judgment is Coming to the United States
Do you really think China will never attack the U. S.? Do you really think Russia will never attack the U. S.? Friend, war is a fact of life. I read recently that Russia invaded Germany in World War II, raping 100,000 women in one night. Japan invaded China and brutally killed 20 million Chinese people during World War II. Chinese women were brought in by the truck loads and gang raped by Japanese soldiers. Do you really think this couldn't happen to the U. S.? War stories should scare you my friend because America is not invincible. No nation is unconquerable. My grave concern is that we are going to destroy our selves first, from within. Do you really think the United Nations will bail us out? Friend, we are the United Nations. If The U. S. goes down, the United Nations will not be there to save us. As communists try to take away our right to bare arms and sodomites try to undermine the morals of society, where are we headed from here? I fear we're going down a continued down-ward spiral. While Americans are living-it-up in complacency, we have enemies around the world that are simply waiting for their chance to conquer.
Don't misunderstand me, I love America! I believe in being patriotic. I am 100% pro-government. I don't agree with much of what is going on in politics and government, but we are commanded in the Scriptures to submit to the higher authorities (God being the highest). We are to obey the laws of the land as long as they don't tell us we can't serve God. If the government tells me I can't go soul-winning, I'm going anyway. If they tell me I can't pray, I'm praying anyway. If they tell me to pay taxes, they have every right to do so and I will comply. I hear people complaining all the time. We should thank God for the blessings we enjoy in this blessed nation. We are spoiled in the United States--yet people complain, complain and still complain some more. How would you like to live in communist China?
What I am saying is that the people of America are slowly but surely turning from God and to destruction. If sodomy, gambling, alcohol, pornography, abortion, prostitution and nudity on TV are legal today...what will be legal tomorrow? It is because I love America that I long to see her people get right with God. We are headed for dark days in this country if we don't repent and come back to God. We are heading in the wrong direction. Church attendance is at an all time low. Much music is nothing more than perverted lyrics, filled with occult new-age garbage or gang street talk. Women refuse to obey their husbands and husbands refuse to love their wives as the Bible commands.
Young whores strut their near-naked bodies across the TV for lustful eyes to sin upon. Nearly every commercial on TV uses sex as a means of advertising. America has become a sex-perverted country. God's Word is laughed at and cast away. Criminals have more rights than victims. Confessed murderers sit in prison, eating 3 square meals a day, watching TV, complements of the tax-payer. The Bible has been corrupted; hundreds of perverted bibles, all distorting the Person and deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Churches and Christians across America are selling out to ecumenism, perverted bibles, Christian rock, life-style evangelism and Hollywood. Yes, we are in trouble.
The greatest problem of our day is indifference! Everything seems to be a big joke to people. Late night shows like THE TONIGHT SHOW and CONAN O' BRIEN make a mock at sin, "Fools make a mock at sin..." (Proverb 14:9). How wicked! How wrong! Such late night shows exploit sodomy, fornication, bestiality and every other sin imaginable to make people laugh. Why can't they have a show with clean humor? Because very few people would watch it. People today are enamored with perversion, sodomy, witchcraft (Harry Potter) and the occult (astrology, yoga, horoscopes, etc.). I went to a Barnes & Noble to look at religious books and was sickened to find hundreds of books on witchcraft. I wasn't looking for them, I just ran across them. They were next to the religious section.
I distinctly remember a "Witchcraft Kit for Teens." It boasted to include "everything necessary" to empower a teen to cast their first spell. How sad! The devil is really working overtime for our young people's souls. In the next book isle I found a book on the "rapture." Again, I was saddened as I looked up and realized that I was in the "Religious Fiction" section. How sad that so few people genuinely believe the Bible anymore. Our society has become too big for it's own britches, too educated to believe in Biblical fairy tales, too logical to believe in abstract and illogical concepts. The Bible must be accepted by faith! This is true of evolution as well. Friend, there is not one shred of proof of evolution! It is a mere theory wickedly accepted by Christ-rejecters as a fact. Yet, the Bible stands true, never to be disproved. There is much evidence against evolution. Satan has duped the multitudes.
God is Longsuffering With the Wicked, but Not Forever
Why do the heathen rage? Because God allows them to. "Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:" (Ecclesiastes 8:12). You know, Billy Joel was wrong when he sang, "Only the good die young." The truth is...the rain falleth upon the just and the unjust, "That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matthew 5:45). Good and bad things happen to everyone! This is what the Bible teaches. I've known young full-time Christian workers to be killed in auto-accidents, but Hue Hefner lives on (and visa-versa). "It's not fair," one might say.
Listen, you let God decide what is fair and what is not. "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" (Proverb 3:5). God is still on his throne. If God wants to let the heathen rage, that is his business. I get upset when I see a Satanist freak like Ozzy Osbourne get a $20,000,000 contract for being a God-hater, when I live for the Lord and punch a clock 40 hours a week plus. Is it fair? Not if you ask me. However, God knows what He is doing. Yes, friend, God allows the heathen to rage in their rebellious and sinful endeavors--but not forever--their woeful time will come soon enough. How sad! for God is not willing that any should perish.
The Wicked Will Be Punished
The world is a snowball, and it's getting bigger and bigger in it's rebellion against Christ and the Bible. It's not going to get any better, it never has. Every nation that has ever turned into sin was eventually destroyed. Even Nineveh, though they repented under the preaching of Jonah; they turned back into sin and were destroyed 100 years later. The prophet Nahum pronounced their doom. Likewise, our days are numbered as a nation if we continue in sin. People ask me, "Brother Dave, do you think the Trade Tower tragedy was God's judgment on America?" No, I do not! I believe it happened because we became too complacent with our airline security and let our guard down. This is why I tell you now, wake up America! Do you think it won't happen again? Even the FBI is warning of future attacks.
Warren Buffet warned all his millionaire buddies in 2002 that a nuclear bomb will eventually strike the U. S. I believe that 9-11 could have been avoided. If I leave my bicycle unattended, you can bet someone is going to eventually steal it. That is not God's judgment, that is my stupidity (or at least my ignorance). I believe as we turn away from God that we will lose our integrity as a nation and become much more vulnerable to communist (enemy) attack. Israel made the mistake of dividing and it no doubt greatly contributed to their weakness and eventual downfall. Despite the hype about "United We Stand," America is divided on nearly everything. We are split down the middle on politics, abortion, homosexuality, religion, etc, etc.
We boast, "In God we trust," but we surely do not (not the True and Living God). May I say, the god of the Liberal does not exist. I hear so many people talking about God, only to find out they don't believe Jesus is God. Folks, there is ONLY one God and Jesus Christ is definitely God. The god of the Liberal wasn't born of a virgin. The god of the Liberal didn't die on a cross. The god of the Liberal didn't shed his blood to pay for our sins.
The god of the Liberal is a mythical, whatever you want him to be, god. You say, "In God we trust!" I ask, "Which god?" Allah, god of the Muslims? Mary, god of the Catholics? The Mother-power, god of the Wiccans and New-Age crowd? Who is your god? My God is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Creator of the universe, the Everlasting Father, the Eternal one, the Prince of peace, the Savior, Almighty God--JESUS CHRIST!
