1
00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:10,539
Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment

2
00:00:10,539 --> 00:00:15,699
of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And today,

3
00:00:16,559 --> 00:00:24,879
oh America, in these days of demonic delirium, your covering of protection has been removed.

4
00:00:25,519 --> 00:00:32,799
Your covering of protection from God has been removed. Wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ has

5
00:00:32,799 --> 00:00:39,159
gone throughout history, a covering of protection against the evil one and his demonic cords has

6
00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:44,640
accompanied. John puts it this way. He says, we know that everyone who has been born of God does

7
00:00:44,640 --> 00:00:50,899
not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him and the evil one does not touch him.

8
00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:58,500
That's the sense of the covering and the protection of God over the peoples of the church, what that

9
00:00:58,500 --> 00:01:04,859
means. And it goes for nations and peoples as well as individuals as Israel and Judah discovered

10
00:01:04,859 --> 00:01:10,659
throughout their history. For example, Isaiah says, I am the Lord your God who stirs up the sea so that

11
00:01:10,659 --> 00:01:17,340
its waves roar. The Lord of hosts is his name. And I've put my words in your mouth and covered you

12
00:01:17,340 --> 00:01:24,680
in the shadow of my hand, establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth and saying

13
00:01:24,680 --> 00:01:32,400
to Zion, you are my people. Oh, how encouraging that is indeed when God says he covers you in the shadow

14
00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:39,739
of his hand. But that protection can also be removed, taken away through disobedience and faithlessness.

15
00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:48,140
For example, because of Judah's lapse into idolatry and demon worship, Isaiah proclaimed to her he has

16
00:01:48,140 --> 00:01:54,659
taken away the covering of Judah. During the conquest of Canaan, Israel found itself on the receiving

17
00:01:54,659 --> 00:02:00,840
and a blessing though, for the removing of the covering of protection over the demonic pagan peoples of

18
00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:06,920
Canaan, the land they were entering to take possession. And he tells Israel, do not fear the

19
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:12,740
people of the land for they are bred for us. Their protection is removed from them and the Lord is

20
00:02:12,740 --> 00:02:20,819
with us. Do not fear them." Well, in establishing the nations, God has set their boundaries and he has

21
00:02:20,819 --> 00:02:29,680
raised up and he has put down kings. In Acts, Paul says, he made from one man every nation of mankind to

22
00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:36,599
live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling

23
00:02:36,599 --> 00:02:44,280
place. And the pagan king Nebuchadnezzar learned these things as well. He says in Daniel chapter 2,

24
00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:52,539
he changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives them wisdom to the wise and

25
00:02:52,539 --> 00:02:59,659
knowledge to those who have understanding, unquote. From Nebuchadnezzar's mouth. So when God sovereignly

26
00:02:59,659 --> 00:03:06,919
raises up, he protects and covers. When he removes and tears down, he takes away that protection and

27
00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:13,139
covering. What a precious thing is that covering, dear listener. America used to have it, that protection of

28
00:03:13,139 --> 00:03:21,659
the Most High. As Psalm 91 reveals to us, that covering of protection guards us against the demonic

29
00:03:21,659 --> 00:03:28,819
enemies that are bent on conquest, disease, and mass death. He says in Psalm 91 verses 4 and 5,

30
00:03:29,139 --> 00:03:35,840
he will cover you with his pinions and under his wings you will find refuge. And the picture there is of a

31
00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:42,340
fluttering, doting mother, hen, or eagle. And the psalm goes on to say, his faithfulness is a shield

32
00:03:42,340 --> 00:03:48,479
and buckler. These are metaphors for spiritual armor throughout scripture. The psalmist goes on to say,

33
00:03:48,840 --> 00:03:55,699
you will not fear the terror of the night, that is demons who haunt the night, nor the arrow that flies

34
00:03:55,699 --> 00:04:01,780
by day, which of course is conquering armies, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness. And of course,

35
00:04:01,780 --> 00:04:07,379
that is a reference to disease and plague. And finally, nor shall you fear the destruction that

36
00:04:07,379 --> 00:04:15,280
wastes at noonday, and that's the ravages of death. So that covering, that supernatural protection from

37
00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:22,279
the hand of God, it has been over this land, the United States of America, from our beginning.

38
00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:29,399
Oh, all of the founding fathers referenced this in one way or another, but George Washington puts it

39
00:04:29,399 --> 00:04:35,420
so eloquently. And he said this in his first inaugural speech to Congress. He said this about

40
00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:41,819
God's superintending protection. And I quote, no people can be bound to acknowledge and adore

41
00:04:41,819 --> 00:04:48,459
the invisible hand which conducts the affairs of men more than the people of the United States.

42
00:04:48,459 --> 00:04:54,579
Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have

43
00:04:54,579 --> 00:05:02,439
been distinguished by some token of providential agency. Yes, providential agency. Indeed, God has

44
00:05:02,439 --> 00:05:09,259
overseen, he has overwatched us, hasn't he? God has watched over us and protected us for the entire

45
00:05:09,259 --> 00:05:16,439
stretch of our existence to the present moment. But in our flight from him into the arms of demonic

46
00:05:16,439 --> 00:05:22,860
delirium that I've been covering for the last few weeks, in our flight into the arms of demonic

47
00:05:22,860 --> 00:05:29,060
delirium, the United States has forsaken him and consequently forsaken his protection over us

48
00:05:29,060 --> 00:05:35,779
too. Washington also warned us of this eventuality. He said in that same speech, we ought to be no less

49
00:05:35,779 --> 00:05:43,620
persuaded that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the

50
00:05:43,620 --> 00:05:51,740
eternal rules of order and right, which heaven has ordained, unquote. And of course, those eternal rules

51
00:05:51,740 --> 00:05:59,800
of order and right are nothing less than God's law as expressed in the Bible. Indeed, these we have

52
00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:06,019
forsaken. Washington shuddered to think what might be the consequences too. And I go on to quote another

53
00:06:06,019 --> 00:06:12,000
letter of his where he said, I am sure there never was a people who had more reason to acknowledge a

54
00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:19,300
divine interposition in their affairs than those of the United States. And I would be pained to believe

55
00:06:19,300 --> 00:06:25,319
that they have forgotten that agency, which was so often manifested during our revolution,

56
00:06:25,579 --> 00:06:32,259
or that they failed to consider the omnipotence of that God who is alone able to protect them,

57
00:06:32,699 --> 00:06:40,339
unquote. Ah, dear listener, God alone is able to protect the United States. The history of God's

58
00:06:40,339 --> 00:06:46,720
protection has not yet been completely written, but it is there for us to see. History has demonstrated

59
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:52,100
that there is an inverse relationship between the power and presence of Jesus Christ in the gospel

60
00:06:52,100 --> 00:06:59,139
among the nations and the power and presence of the devil in dominion over the nations. Where one

61
00:06:59,139 --> 00:07:05,439
increases in power and strength, the other decreases by the same proportion in power and strength.

62
00:07:06,180 --> 00:07:11,860
And John tells us of what the default situation is without the gospel. He says in 1 John 5,

63
00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:18,579
we know that we are from God and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Without God

64
00:07:18,579 --> 00:07:24,939
determining to take back his creation from the evil one, the world would continue under the power of

65
00:07:24,939 --> 00:07:31,579
the evil one. So it has been since the fall, so it is now, and so it would ever be if God had not chosen

66
00:07:31,579 --> 00:07:39,100
to intervene and save and redeem his creation. John also says in chapter 3 of his first letter,

67
00:07:39,100 --> 00:07:45,800
the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil, unquote. So wherever the

68
00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:52,120
gospel of Jesus Christ has gone, the works of the devil have been destroyed. How eloquently redemptive

69
00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:58,639
history testifies to this too. For example, Jesus initially rolled back the power of the evil one

70
00:07:58,639 --> 00:08:05,740
in his earthly ministry, delegating that authority to the church. Even as Luke chapter 10 tells us,

71
00:08:05,740 --> 00:08:12,120
the 72 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said

72
00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:20,079
to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents

73
00:08:20,079 --> 00:08:26,399
and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you, unquote. Wherever the

74
00:08:26,399 --> 00:08:32,519
gospel of Jesus Christ went, so went the protection and covering of God over those nations, tongues,

75
00:08:32,519 --> 00:08:39,700
and peoples. Oh, the church did in fact wrest control of the world from the evil one wherever

76
00:08:39,700 --> 00:08:45,159
she went, civilizing them as she grew. Even as Jesus said in Mark 16, and he said to them,

77
00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:50,539
go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized

78
00:08:50,539 --> 00:08:56,279
will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those

79
00:08:56,279 --> 00:09:00,980
who believe. In my name, they will cast out demons. They will speak in new tongues. They will pick up

80
00:09:00,980 --> 00:09:05,799
serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay

81
00:09:05,799 --> 00:09:10,779
their hands on the sick, and they will recover, unquote, from Mark chapter 16. And we know, wherever

82
00:09:10,779 --> 00:09:17,419
the gospel of Jesus Christ went, so went the protection and covering of God over those nations,

83
00:09:17,580 --> 00:09:23,580
tongues, and peoples. Each and every one of those signs I just mentioned for you from Mark was signaled

84
00:09:23,580 --> 00:09:29,840
in the book of Acts as the gospel went out from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and to all the world.

85
00:09:30,980 --> 00:09:36,960
Gospel increased. Paganism decreased. Satan's power and those nations coming under the influence of

86
00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:44,200
the gospel saw a corresponding decrease in influence of his ability to control the peoples of those

87
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:50,779
nations. Wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ went, so went the protection and covering of God over those

88
00:09:50,779 --> 00:09:57,360
nations, tongues, and peoples. Now, St. Augustine, in his magisterial work, The City of God,

89
00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:03,480
spends chapter after chapter going into great detail about the pagan demons behind the gods of Rome

90
00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:09,919
and how they have lost their power now over the minds and hearts of men as the gospel of Jesus Christ

91
00:10:09,919 --> 00:10:17,120
advanced. A major reason St. Augustine wrote The City of God was to explain to pagan Rome why their

92
00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:23,000
religion didn't work anymore. The city of God, to which Christians belonged, was gradually,

93
00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:30,320
step by step, heart by heart, replacing the city of man to which they had belonged. Wherever the gospel

94
00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:36,279
of Jesus Christ went, so went the protection and covering of God over those nations, tongues, and

95
00:10:36,279 --> 00:10:43,919
peoples. Now, a shining example is that of the missionary St. Boniface, who preached the gospel

96
00:10:43,919 --> 00:10:49,340
to the pagan German tribes way back in the early 8th century. Now, at one point,

97
00:10:49,340 --> 00:10:56,039
he dramatically chopped down an ancient oak tree thought to be sacred to the Norse god Thor,

98
00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:02,200
and that anyone desecrating that tree would be instantly killed by a bolt of lightning from Thor.

99
00:11:02,940 --> 00:11:08,759
Well, the German tribesmen anxiously awaited the outcome of St. Boniface's chopping down that tree,

100
00:11:09,019 --> 00:11:14,580
and when Boniface came through it unharmed, and in fact, he began dressing the wood of the tree to

101
00:11:14,580 --> 00:11:20,899
build a church, the pagans were converted. The pagan demonic influence of Thor's priests

102
00:11:20,899 --> 00:11:28,399
began to diminish. Wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ went, so went the protection and covering of

103
00:11:28,399 --> 00:11:34,860
God over those nations, tongues, and peoples. So, this historical phenomenon is nothing less than the

104
00:11:34,860 --> 00:11:39,960
fulfillment of his gospel of the kingdom. You may remember from the gospels that when the Pharisees

105
00:11:39,960 --> 00:11:46,259
dismissed his casting out of demons to doing it by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus pointed out that that

106
00:11:46,259 --> 00:11:52,500
is a contradiction in terms, because no creature works against his own interests, and that is precisely

107
00:11:52,500 --> 00:11:57,240
what the devil would be doing if he cast out his own agents from men. Jesus goes on to say,

108
00:11:57,659 --> 00:12:04,639
but if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, that is, if I cast out demons by the Spirit

109
00:12:04,639 --> 00:12:11,019
of God, not by Beelzebub, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong

110
00:12:11,019 --> 00:12:17,120
man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man? Then, indeed, he may plunder his

111
00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:24,360
house, unquote, from Matthew chapter 12. Jesus Christ has indeed bound the strong man, that is, the devil,

112
00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:31,179
and since Christ's advent, he has been steadily plundering the devil's house, that is, gaining souls for the

113
00:12:31,179 --> 00:12:37,480
kingdom, retrieving them from the grip of the devil, growing and expanding that kingdom wherever

114
00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:43,679
the gospel goes, and diminishing Satan's power and control over whole tribes, tongues, peoples, and

115
00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:50,379
nations. That is what we mean when we say that wherever the gospel of Jesus Christ goes, a covering

116
00:12:50,379 --> 00:12:56,659
and protection accompanies the church as it flourishes in those tribes, tongues, peoples, and nations

117
00:12:56,659 --> 00:13:04,580
to which it comes. This is just an historical fact, dear listener. Over the centuries, demonic enslavement

118
00:13:04,580 --> 00:13:11,179
and pagan superstition and the shadow of sheer ignorance diminishes in an inverse proportion to

119
00:13:11,179 --> 00:13:18,519
the spiritual liberty, biblical truth, and the light of the knowledge of God that is inculcated there. So

120
00:13:18,519 --> 00:13:26,019
much so is this true that scholars used to point out that even Western science, as we know it, first found

121
00:13:26,019 --> 00:13:33,419
its fertile ground among Christian scientists who were able to explore an objective universe created by

122
00:13:33,419 --> 00:13:40,059
a good God who wanted his creatures to investigate how it works so that they might improve the lot of

123
00:13:40,059 --> 00:13:46,980
man, thus fulfilling the creation mandate, which runs from Genesis chapter 1 verse 28, that creation

124
00:13:46,980 --> 00:13:53,919
mandate is God bless them, that is, Adam and Eve. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill

125
00:13:53,919 --> 00:13:59,960
the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and

126
00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:06,399
over every living thing that moves on the earth. Unquote. The dominion mandate given indeed to the

127
00:14:06,399 --> 00:14:13,620
church. Oh, just one resource I'd like to refer you to in terms of how Christianity has influenced

128
00:14:13,620 --> 00:14:20,659
science. And that is this book by Jonathan Hill. And it's called, What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us?

129
00:14:20,659 --> 00:14:28,000
And the subtitle is, How It Shaped the Modern World. What Has Christianity Ever Done For Us? Oh, How It

130
00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:36,720
Has Shaped the Modern World by Jonathan Hill. But I must say, to such a turn have we come that now it is

131
00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:41,840
the Christian faith that is attacked at every turn and has become the whipping boy for every ill in

132
00:14:41,840 --> 00:14:49,379
society, hasn't it? Including being anti-science. We are anti-science if we wish to trust our God-given

133
00:14:49,379 --> 00:14:55,279
immune systems, for example. Strengthening it and supporting it rather than an experimental gene

134
00:14:55,279 --> 00:15:04,080
therapy drug. An mRNA jab is not a vaccine in the strict sense. Some of us prefer to trust that with

135
00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:09,679
which God has naturally endowed us. A complex immune system honed and perfected over millennia

136
00:15:09,679 --> 00:15:18,279
of experience. We're not anti-science nor anti-vaccine, but we are anti-vax quacks. We are anti-science

137
00:15:18,279 --> 00:15:23,600
according to the world if we calmly, patiently reassert the obvious truth that there are two

138
00:15:23,600 --> 00:15:30,000
genders, male and female, and not the demonic fiction of multiple genders numbering into the

139
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:37,259
dozens and yea, hundreds. We are also labeled as anti-science if we challenge the settled science

140
00:15:37,259 --> 00:15:44,460
of the religion of climate change. Remember that all through history, it is superstitious religion

141
00:15:44,460 --> 00:15:50,799
that can never be questioned. Unchallenged obedience to the received orthodoxy must always

142
00:15:50,799 --> 00:15:58,279
be maintained on pain of ridicule and ostracizing and sometimes even death. Every other avenue of truth

143
00:15:58,279 --> 00:16:05,440
must be silenced as the mainstream media is doing on climate change. On the other hand, as nurtured in

144
00:16:05,440 --> 00:16:11,940
the early days of science exploration guided by Christian scholars, there was no such thing as a settled

145
00:16:11,940 --> 00:16:19,399
science. But by its very nature, every hypothesis, every theory and settled truth was open to testing

146
00:16:19,399 --> 00:16:27,019
and challenge, limited only by freshly discovered facts and truths. All of that is being squashed now

147
00:16:27,019 --> 00:16:33,700
by the superstition of climate change, and it's done for financial and political reasons, not for

148
00:16:33,700 --> 00:16:39,899
Mother Earth. Make no mistake about that, dear listener. And all of this is truly reminiscent of the old

149
00:16:39,899 --> 00:16:46,720
religious orthodoxy of geocentrism, for example, desperately clinging by the church against the

150
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:54,899
fresh discoveries of Galileo. Today, however, it is the church of scientism, and scientism is not science.

151
00:16:55,320 --> 00:17:01,720
Scientism is the merging of pseudoscience with political interests, and it is the church of

152
00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:08,460
scientism which mercilessly persecutes any facts or truths brought forward to challenge the received

153
00:17:08,460 --> 00:17:15,240
orthodoxy. Oh, dear listener, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Gradually, almost

154
00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:21,859
imperceptibly, our Western heritage of the Christian faith has been eroded, ridiculed, and marginalized in

155
00:17:21,859 --> 00:17:27,559
its shaping of the future. We need not here rehearse the history of that decline. I've done that abundantly

156
00:17:27,559 --> 00:17:33,119
elsewhere, but suffice it to say that we have emptied our national character of its Christian spiritual

157
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:40,920
formation. And in its place, we have put, we have put ostensibly nothing, a vacuum, right? But is it

158
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:48,180
really a vacuum? Are we just a spiritually neutral, objective society? Is that even possible? Can the

159
00:17:48,180 --> 00:17:55,339
soul of a nation be a vacuum? No. Your demonic, deep state, rodent gnomes would have you think so,

160
00:17:55,339 --> 00:18:02,920
but not Jesus. As Jesus points out, nature hates a spiritual vacuum. Something will come to fill it. The devil

161
00:18:02,920 --> 00:18:08,779
will not leave our vessel empty. In speaking of the Israel of his own generation, Jesus says, and I quote,

162
00:18:09,039 --> 00:18:15,440
when the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds

163
00:18:15,440 --> 00:18:21,339
none. Then it says, I will return to my house from which I came. And when it comes, it finds the house

164
00:18:21,339 --> 00:18:27,099
empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits, more evil than

165
00:18:27,099 --> 00:18:32,579
itself. And so they enter and dwell there. And the last state of that person is worse than the first.

166
00:18:33,180 --> 00:18:40,240
So also will it be with this evil generation. Unquote the words of Jesus. Are you listening,

167
00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:47,900
America? So it is with this evil generation. Behold your present state. It is worth worse, excuse me,

168
00:18:47,900 --> 00:18:54,579
than the first. This is what I mean by demonic delirium. A case can be made that on this continent

169
00:18:54,579 --> 00:19:00,400
has come a demonic state seven times worse than when we first arrived with Christian missionaries

170
00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:07,099
and colonists who labored to establish the church and the gospel among the then pagan tribes of America.

171
00:19:07,660 --> 00:19:13,859
Better by far to be a man in the native tribes which inhabited this continent 500 years ago.

172
00:19:13,859 --> 00:19:20,539
That is the noble savage of our western myth. Better to be him than the pathetic, demonic,

173
00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:29,099
pencil-necked, man-bunned, skinny-jeaned, soy boy Antifa rioter of today. Oh, the punk puke of today

174
00:19:29,099 --> 00:19:35,279
is seven times more demonic and seven times weaker and more unprincipled than his pagan counterpart

175
00:19:35,279 --> 00:19:41,859
of 500 years ago. And the case can be made that our culture and so-called leadership is becoming more

176
00:19:41,859 --> 00:19:48,960
and more luciferian too, overtly so, than in the past. For example, not only has Hollywood crawling

177
00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:56,539
with stars become wormwood crawling with fallen stars, but culture-wide evil is celebrated, isn't it?

178
00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:02,980
Movies, music, and media in general has more and more boldly incorporated satanic symbols and rituals

179
00:20:02,980 --> 00:20:08,339
into everything from Super Bowl halftime shows to children's Saturday morning cartoons.

180
00:20:08,339 --> 00:20:14,640
For $100, you can get a pair of Satan shoes, festooned with pentagrams and filled with real blood.

181
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:20,180
Satanic cults thrive in the highest echelons of our government and military.

182
00:20:20,759 --> 00:20:23,900
Do some homework. It's not just a conspiracy theory, dear listener.

183
00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:31,319
And of course, since Roe v. Wade in 1973, over 9 million babies have been aborted,

184
00:20:31,319 --> 00:20:37,460
rivers of their bloodshed, to the delight of the evil one and his minions, many of whom celebrate

185
00:20:37,460 --> 00:20:45,019
luciferian rituals at abortion clinics. The biblical family, too, is being systematically destroyed,

186
00:20:45,339 --> 00:20:52,539
and in its place, a redefinition of family, with redefined gender and sex roles, goes on apace.

187
00:20:52,700 --> 00:20:57,220
In many quarters, it's getting increasingly difficult to distinguish male from female,

188
00:20:57,220 --> 00:21:02,500
with the demons in government recently banning even the use of traditional terms like mother

189
00:21:02,500 --> 00:21:09,460
and father from government documents. Well, on and on we could go. What we see today beginning to

190
00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:15,720
reappear used to be a routine thing throughout the earth, and that is the whole world lies in the

191
00:21:15,720 --> 00:21:23,460
power of the evil one. It is as if in Revelation chapter 9 unfolding before our eyes, where we see in

192
00:21:23,460 --> 00:21:28,640
chapter 9, and the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star fallen from heaven to earth,

193
00:21:28,779 --> 00:21:33,720
and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. He opened the shaft of the bottomless

194
00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:39,140
pit, and from the shaft rose smoke like the smoke of a great furnace, and the sun and the air were

195
00:21:39,140 --> 00:21:44,380
darkened with the smoke from the shaft. Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were

196
00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:51,180
given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. As we showed in our series on Revelation,

197
00:21:51,180 --> 00:21:56,839
the fallen star is Lucifer, the angel of light, and the numberless locusts are his demonic hosts.

198
00:21:57,559 --> 00:22:02,000
From time to time, the earth has crawled with them. It's not a one-time circumstance to happen

199
00:22:02,000 --> 00:22:07,500
in a far-flung future great tribulation. No, it is a recurring historical phenomenon. It's happening

200
00:22:07,500 --> 00:22:15,599
again. We are entering days of demonic delirium. As Isaiah says, he has taken away the covering of Judah.

201
00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:21,000
As Joshua and Caleb said of the nations of Canaan, their protection is removed from them.

202
00:22:21,180 --> 00:22:26,859
It has happened to us with terrible, portentous consequences. As we observe throughout the

203
00:22:26,859 --> 00:22:32,500
prophets and in the apocalypse, when God's protective spiritual covering is removed from

204
00:22:32,500 --> 00:22:40,039
a people, the four horsemen of the apocalypse have free reign to ride. War, famine, and disease come

205
00:22:40,039 --> 00:22:46,220
upon a people so abandoned. All of these plagues are soon to fall upon us, if not beginning already.

206
00:22:46,900 --> 00:22:52,839
COVID-19, anyone? Well, what are we to do? What is to become of us, dear listener? Oftentimes,

207
00:22:53,200 --> 00:22:58,619
such people and cultures are utterly destroyed. As the apocalypse shows, when tribes, tongues,

208
00:22:58,779 --> 00:23:04,680
peoples, and nations are this far gone, they rarely repent and turn back to God in order that they

209
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:10,839
might be saved. Extinction and oblivion are their destiny. This is most likely our future.

210
00:23:10,839 --> 00:23:22,539
Don't be falsely reassured by Mr. F. Only. If only we can re-elect Trump. If only we can get a majority

211
00:23:22,539 --> 00:23:27,980
of conservatives on the Supreme Court. If only we can get through this coronavirus pandemic on and on.

212
00:23:28,339 --> 00:23:35,420
The if-onlys are false hopes. They will only lead you to disillusionment and despair. Then again,

213
00:23:35,420 --> 00:23:41,819
on rare occasions, a people genuinely repent and turn to God. The pagan city of Nineveh did so at

214
00:23:41,819 --> 00:23:46,799
the preaching of Jonah, when he finally got around to executing his God-given mission, that is. And Judah

215
00:23:46,799 --> 00:23:53,960
briefly repented of her idolater and of the good King Josiah. And America, too, underwent two great

216
00:23:53,960 --> 00:24:00,500
awakenings when she turned back to God. It can happen, but usually not when we are this far gone,

217
00:24:00,500 --> 00:24:07,339
that is, given over to Lucifer as we are. We are presently as far gone as the hard-hearted dwellers

218
00:24:07,339 --> 00:24:13,700
on the earth in the apocalypse. The most likely scenario is that we Christians, that is the church,

219
00:24:13,839 --> 00:24:19,039
will have to be prepared to pick up the pieces when the earth, as we know it, completely disintegrates

220
00:24:19,039 --> 00:24:24,599
and is destroyed. The church was there after the fall of Rome, for example, and the church was there

221
00:24:24,599 --> 00:24:31,759
to rebuild after the barbarian invasions. But each time, Christ's kingdom advances a little further.

222
00:24:32,299 --> 00:24:38,019
Christ takes more dominion in creation with every defeat of the evil one. May the evil one be defeated

223
00:24:38,019 --> 00:24:45,339
in America. The kingdom of God has grown like the proverbial mustard seed. It began very small among a few

224
00:24:45,339 --> 00:24:51,740
disciples in Jerusalem until it is now a huge tree in which the nations take up nest. God's provision

225
00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:56,579
and protection is with those who trust him. We know that everyone who has been born of God does not

226
00:24:56,579 --> 00:25:02,299
keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him,

227
00:25:02,420 --> 00:25:09,319
as John says. God's promise is to us, dear listener. He says in Psalm 91, he will cover you with his

228
00:25:09,319 --> 00:25:15,039
opinions, and under his wings you will find refuge. His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

229
00:25:15,039 --> 00:25:21,119
Oh, this is just as true for nations as it is for individuals. If we rebuild in faith,

230
00:25:21,460 --> 00:25:27,059
his protection will once again be over us, and the kingdom will have advanced a little further in

231
00:25:27,059 --> 00:25:33,539
the process, too. So don't despair, dear listener. Do not give up hope. Be realistic in seeing that our

232
00:25:33,539 --> 00:25:40,480
job will probably be not in turning America around as it is now, but rather rebuilding from scratch

233
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:47,220
a whole new country. It may mean years of blood and chaos and destruction, but if we fight with

234
00:25:47,220 --> 00:25:52,400
the weapons of our warfare, which are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds, that is the blood

235
00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:57,900
of the saints and the word of our testimony, as Revelation says, then we will prevail. It cannot be

236
00:25:57,900 --> 00:26:05,599
otherwise. The gates of hell will not prevail against us. As Psalm 2 says, he has made the nations his

237
00:26:05,599 --> 00:26:11,539
heritage, the ends of the earth, his possession. Christ will break them with a rod of iron and dash

238
00:26:11,539 --> 00:26:16,759
them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Oh, go in confidence, dear listener, through it all, knowing

239
00:26:16,759 --> 00:26:22,859
that it cannot be otherwise, that that Christ will triumph. His covering will one day be over us

240
00:26:22,859 --> 00:26:29,859
again. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church. We meet for holy

241
00:26:29,859 --> 00:26:36,619
worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. You can call us for

242
00:26:36,619 --> 00:26:44,539
more information at area code 208-523-0196. Once again, call us for more information or feedback

243
00:26:44,539 --> 00:26:49,519
at area code 208-523-0196.