CHAPTER SIX

GOD IS OUR DEFENSE

As the Psalmist David was being hunted like a rabbit in the wilderness, God was His only protection from the forces of King Saul, his angry, jealous father-in-law. David prayed: Deliver me, O LORD, from mine enemies: I flee unto thee to hide me (Psalms 143:9). Notes in the margin of my Bible indicate that what the Psalmist is saying is this: “Hide me with thee.” Pray that God Himself will stand between you and your enemies, and you will be kept securely beneath the shelter of His wings. Those who have trusted Christ as Savior are spiritually hidden with Christ in God.

Once you have done taken all the practical steps God has shown you to do, and prayed to God in the power of the Spirit; once you have claimed in prayer the promises of the Word of God which are relevant to your situation, stand in complete rest and confidence that God will send His answer (Eph.6:13).

After God poured out His plagues upon the Egyptians and forced Pharaoh to let the Children of Israel go, Pharaoh changed his mind. He wanted his slaves back. Pharaoh chased the Israelites to the edge of the Red Sea with his army, who were expertly armed and driving swift chariots. The Israelites found themselves caught between the Red Sea (some scholars believe it was really the “Sea of Reeds”) and Pharaoh’s army. They could run no further. The Israelites were caught between the proverbial rock and a hard place. But God was their Rock Who delivered them and got them past the hard place. He told Moses to stretch his rod over the waters. Through Moses, God said to them, in Exodus 14:13-14: Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today; for the Egyptians, whom ye shall see today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.

God’s salvation includes much more than being saved from sin and its eternal consequences. God wants to save you from all the destructions of satan, as He did for the Israelites. God wants to fight all your battles and be your Deliverer. Jesus instructs us to pray for God to deliver us from evil (Matt.6:13).

Psalms 71:4: Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

Psalms 106:8: Nevertheless he (God) saved them (the Israelites) for his name’s sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known.* * *God parted the waters to enable the Israelites to pass over to dry land. But he brought those same waters down upon their Egyptian pursuers to drown them. God is well able to deal with bullies to humble and deter them. God can catch the bully in his own trap.

Psalms 7:15: He made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.Verse 16: His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall return upon his own pate (crown of the head).* * *If your oppressor is hard-hearted and will not listen to reason, and especially if he poses a danger to your safety, be sure to claim this promise from the Word of God! Some people never come to repentance until the Lord chastises them through adversity.

Psalm 94:10: He that chastiseth the heathen, shall he not correct (discipline)? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall he not know?* * * Verse 13 declares that a pit will be dug for the wicked.

Verse 22: But the LORD is my defense; and my God is the Rock of my refuge.Vers 23: And he shall bring upon them (the Psalmist’s enemies) their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.* * *You could pray that God will cut your enemy off from whatever gives him or her power to harm or threaten you. You want them to come to Christ, but now it is very important that God humble them enough to take away their power over you.

Psalms 8:15: The heathen are sunk down in the pit that they made: in the net which they hid is their own foot taken.* * *Pray that your enemy will be defeated by their own traps and unable to bother you anymore.

Psalms 107:20: He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.* * *Stand upon every promise of protection written in God’s Word. Believe that the Lord will save you from every destruction of the enemy and heal the damage already done in your life.

Prophetic Word:

Speak Out For Those Appointed to DiePsalms 5:5-6; 11:5; Chapter 64; Chapter 91; 102:20; Matt.14:3-4; I John 3:15

Why do My people continue to turn a blind eye to evil and injustice in their communities? Christians confuse love with unlimited, unconditional tolerance of even the most wicked people. About the only people Christians are willing to condemn as evil are other saints who dare to denounce the violent and the immoral. John the Baptist was not afraid to let the wicked Herod Antipas know that his actions were immoral and that Herod stood in danger of eternal hellfire! Yet my children who dare to speak up on behalf of victims against their oppressors are accused of being intolerant, unmerciful and unloving.

The devil is having a ball as he destroys precious lives I have created. It fills him with glee to watch evil flourish in communities where Christians are too scared to act as a preserving salt anymore. The abused woman is rebuked for expressing a need to depart from her husband to protect the safety of herself and her own children. The rights of school and workplace bullies are protected before the rights of their victims. Any Christian who dares to wage a personal campaign against hate crimes is accused of "entangling himself in the affairs of this world" or pushing a left-wing "social gospel" which isn't on My agenda. Surely, many suppose, Jesus expects the victims to always turn the other cheek and cheerfully take more and more hurt.

Many unconverted victms of bullying have taken their own lives because they could take it no more. And where did they end up? In hell. Why? Because being a victim does not confer righteousness upon an individual, only faith in My shed blood. There are many in hell today who might have been saved had someone bucked the trend and told those unfortunate, unloved souls about Me. Such victims might have had a longer space to repent, but abusive bullies drove them to a desperate act which prematurely closed their window of opportunity to be saved. Driven to distraction by endless abuse, some social outcasts seek refuge in self-inflicted death, and go into a Christless eternity.

Am I unmerciful? A thousand times, no! I am very merciful and only I know the degree of accountability to which each person can be held. Some people are like tiny children in the way they perceive matters of right and wrong. They honestly don't realize that what they're doing is wrong. Just like a small child will run out into the traffic to escape a mean dog running after him, a very frightened person might do

something rash because his fear has gained the mastery over him and his powers of reason have gone into meltdown from protracted emotional abuse. If something happens to him because of the damage inflicted by the bully, who do you think I hold responsible?

Some suicide victims are so ill and confused they cannot be held to the same standard of accountability as those of sound mind. I can reassure you that no one ends up in hell unless it is perfectly just that they go there. Some have called upon Me in their dying moments and I heard them and took them unto Myself to at last find the rest and peace they'd been so cruelly denied in life. But death is no refuge. Death is a destroyer, not a friend. Death is the ultimate enemy. Death is a defeat for those who prematurely end their own lives. Death is the sad end of all a person's potential for receiving all I can impart to enable them to serve Me in this earth. How merciful and gracious, that in perfect love I have made a wondrous Way of Salvation in Christ, that when your own appointed time for departure comes, the gates of heaven will be opened to all you who have found refuge in Christ Jesus. But until I call you home, cherish the life I have given you as an opportunity to serve Me and glorify Me in this earth.

I say to all those who are cruelly oppressed, call upon My Name and I will surely deliver you. Bullying not only kills, it drives some to hell to be tormented forever, far worse than they ever were in this life. Bullies bear a fearful burden of guilt in My sight. They don’t deserve to be coddled with endless empathy and infinite patience. Better a sharp rebuke than that they go unhindered on their way to that place of torment which never ends! It is wrong to believe that bullying is just a temporary vexation which soon passes. Its effects can reach far beyond this life into eternity, for both the victim and the assailant.

Why are My people so swift to defend the unborn but so slow to protect vulnerable people who have already been born? Both the unborn and the born must be cherished as unique creations from My hand. Speak out for those who are suffering cruelty, whether it be victims of outright physical violence, or on behalf of bullied kids who are daily being fed a slow drip of emotional poison in a school environment they are powerless to flee from.

ANY PERSON, YOUNG OR OLD, WHO DRIVES ANOTHER PERSON TO THEIR GRAVE THROUGH CRUELTY IS AUTOMATICALLY GUILTY OF MURDER IN MY SIGHT! Whoever entertains malice and spite toward another is kissing up to the spirit of murder which ministers death rather than life. Bullies and abusive persons of any sort, whether they be workplace bullies, abusive bosses or supervisors, cruel classmates, violent alcoholics or child abusers, need to be sternly but lovingly warned of the terrible judgment that awaits them in a devil’s hell. When My people fail or refuse to speak out against evil, satan wins the war by default. The legions of hell rejoice in an easy victory.

Many are wandering blindly in the Shadow of Death. They flirt with death and seek escape in it because they can bear the torments of the wicked no longer. They long to die because they are too afraid to live. Speak out on behalf of those who are appointed to death. Warn the wicked and defend the defenseless.

Commentary on Psalm 91

Psalms 91 is one of my very favorite chapters in the Bible. Where I went to church, we even learned to sing it.

Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.* * *The only truly safe place to be in this world is to nestle beneath the wings of Almighty God. Jesus said something comparable in Matthew 23:37 where he laments over Jerusalem and says that He had longed so much to protect them like a hen gathers her chicks under her wings to keep them safe. Pray always that God will keep you safe and secure under the shadow of the Almighty.

Verse 2: I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God, in Him will I trust.* * *Take refuge in God’s love for you. Only His opinion of you matters. Let Him be your strength. Ask Him to stand between you and your enemies and be your mighty fortress.

Verse 3: Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare (trap) of the fowler (bird hunter) and from the noisome (harmful) pestilence (plague).* * *Claim God Almighty as your own personal Deliverer. It isn’t a sin to want to be saved from danger. Even Jesus Himself escaped from enemies. The Baby Jesus was protected from the wrath of King Herod (Matt.2:13-14). Jesus escaped an angry crowd who was about to shove Him off a cliff (Luke 4:29-30). Jesus was kept safe from harm until the time came for Him to die for our sins. Jesus is our perfect Example. So why shouldn’t we also desire to escape from our enemies?

Verse 4: He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.* * *God wants to hide us under His wings like a mother hen. When we know God’s truth and hold fast to it in faith, it shields our hearts from the fiery darts of the enemy. Not only do we have the shield of God’s truth, but we have the truth as “buckler”, which is a smaller shield used to fend off blows in hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes missiles are sent against us from a distance, and we need a big shield to fend them off. But when the enemy gets “in your face”, skillful use of the Word of God, like a buckler shield, can fend off the blows of satan.

Verse 5: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; * * *Stand on this promise made by God Himself. I have read accounts of angels of God guarding the homes of missionaries from attack. Ask God to assign a 24-hour-a-day body guard of angels to watch over you.

Verse 6: Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.* * *Those of us who belong to Christ have a right not to have our lives laid waste by the enemy’s destructions.

Verse 7: A thousand shall fall by thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh (near) thee.* * *I didn’t make this promise, GOD did! He is actually promising here, that even if people all around us are falling as victims, the danger won’t come near us! Pray for the Holy Spirit to give you faith in your heart to claim this Scripture as your very own. Remember, Jesus Himself did not fall into satan’s hands until the time came for Him to suffer for our sins. Surely the Father would never demand harder suffering of us than befell His own Son.

Verse 8: Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.* * *God promises here that you will live to see evildoers get what they deserve (let God take care of that). God promises in Romans 12:19: “Vengeance is mine, I will repay.”

Verse 9: Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation (dwelling place);Verse 10: There shall no evil befall thee (happen to you); neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.* * *Jesus Himself taught His disciples to pray this to the Father: Lead us not into temptation (hard testing) but deliver us from evil (Matt.6:13). Abide in the presence of God through continual prayer and meditation on His Word and trust in His power to shield you.

Verse 11: For he shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.* * *Claim this promise from God. Pray that wherever you go, His angels will not only watch over you, but will prepare your path by subduing all your enemies.

Verse 12: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.* * *You can claim this verse not only when you’re walking somewhere, but in case there might be hazards out on the road when you’re driving.

Verse 13: Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder (poisonous snake): the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.* * *The lion, the adder (serpent), and the dragon are all used metaphorically in the Bible of satan (I Pet.5:8; Rev.12:3,9). By faith in God’s Word and confession the power of the blood of Jesus we can bruise him underfoot. Wicked spirits controlling human enemies can be battled against in the spiritual realm. As for physically fighting human bullies, leave that solely to God (unless you’re being attacked yourself and have no other choice than to use the MINIMUM required physical force (stomp on a toe or knee in the groin) to enable you to break free of the attacker(s) and run away. Chances are, if one of those cowards suffers, the others will be distracted by his yell of pain. If you’re surrounded by a crowd of attackers, offer a silent prayer to God to temporarily blind or distract them so you can get away (see Gen.19:11). Carry a piercingly loud personal alarm, or SCREAM as loud as you can, in the ears of the attackers if they’re that close. Don’t’ mind looking like a “chicken” by running away! Don’t hang around to argue with them to protect your dignity. Just get away as fast as possible! They might laugh at you, but it’s better than a beating.

Especially for women who must often walk alone in dangerous areas, and anyone in actual physical danger, training in basic self-defense might be an option (many community centers offer self-defense seminars). There is some controversy surrounding martial arts training, which is steeped in Far Eastern mysticism.

Verse 14: Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.* * *Those who set their love upon the God of Scripture and His Son Jesus can rightly claim this verse as their own. Trust God to set you in a high place of safety above the trouble and turmoil of this life.

Verse 15: He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honour him.* * *There is no guarantee you won’t be in trouble again if you trust God, but He will be wherever you are, even in the middle of a messy situation. Joseph got sold to slave traders by his own brothers. God was even with Joseph in slavery, and in prison (Gen.39:3,31). And after Joseph unjustly suffered, God exalted Joseph to be the second highest ruler in Egypt (Gen.41:37-45). All because Joseph honored God even in his misery.

Verse 16: With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.* * *God is able to give us lives sufficiently long enough to fulfill our calling. He is able to save us not only from sin and its penalty, but save us from the perils of the devil and his evil angels.

Some Thoughts on Psalm 94

Verse 1: O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew (show) thyself.* * *Here the Psalmist seems to be saying: “God, where ARE you? Justice is needed here! So show Yourself!”

Verse 2: Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud (arrogant).* * *Feeling immune from having to pay for sin makes sinners arrogant and eager to commit more crime. The Psalmist pleads with the Judge of All the Earth to repay the arrogant sinner in kind for the evil he has done.

Verse 3: LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?* * *Many times I’ve asked God that question myself. Every news story I hear about murderous bullies boasting about how they got off lightly sounds like a victory for satan. “Lord,” I plead, “hasten the day when judgment and justice will be done in this fallen world. Surely the Judge of all the Earth shall do right (Gen.18:25).”

Verse 4: How long shall they utter and speak hard things? And all the workers of iniquity (wickedness) boast themselves?* * *How long before God silences the boasts of the workers of darkness? Come, Lord Jesus!

Verse 5: They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage.* * *The Psalmist cries out to God because Israel is being abused by foreign enemies.

Verse 6: They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.* * *Cowardly oppressors prefer to attack the most vulnerable groups first because they like an easy victory.

Verse 7: Yet they say, the LORD shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.* * *Bullies must know that SOMEONE created them, but they don’t think God notices what they’re doing because nothing stands in their way. But all they’re doing is treasuring up (storing up) wrath to be poured out upon them by an angry Judge (Rom.2:5). Payday might be long in coming, but the more dirty deeds are recorded, the fatter the paycheck!

Verse 13 warns that a pit is being dug for the wicked by Almighty God. I believe that God is able to trap the wicked in the here and now, but a far worse pit awaits them after death, the pit of hell. In Numbers 16:30-33 a living family is swallowed up alive into the pit as punishment for trying to start a rebellion against Moses.

The Psalmist asks who will rise up in his defense. In verse 18 he declares that God’s mercy held him up when his foot slipped. God is his refuge and his defense against unjust judges (verse 22).

Verse 23: And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our GOD shall cut them off.* * *The Judge of All the Earth shall bring swift retribution upon lying wicked men.

Warrior Angels

The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels: the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the Holy Place (Psalms 68:17). God Almighty is attended by a glorious entourage of ministering spirits who go forth to serve Him. Angels also look after the well-being of His children, who are joint-heirs with Christ Jesus.

The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them (Psalms 34:7). The Hebrew word for “encampeth” is chaneh, which means to “pitch a tent”, or dwelling place. Ask God to set up a celestial army bivouacs around you. How wonderful, to have heavenly hosts camping out in your own home and workplace, or wherever you go! Consecrate your own home to the Lord, that unseen angels will always feel welcome there. I have to chuckle about this, since my present home is so small that if you get more than three people in the place you feel crowded!

Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

When Jesus was being arrested by His enemies, Peter tried to defend Him by using a sword. Jesus responded by telling Peter His Father was perfectly able to send more than twelve legions of to His defense (Matt. 26:53). In the time of Caesar Augustus, one legion of men equaled 6826. Jesus could have been rescued by roughly 82,000 angels! But it wasn’t in the purpose of the Father to save His own beloved Son from the death of the Cross, because His divinely preordained plain was to die to save US!

Ask the Father to dispatch a contingent of mighty angels to fight against your foes in such a way that they are weakened and hindered from harming you, but are still spared to give them opportunity to be converted to Christ. In the Old Testament, the enemies of the righteous would often have been killed by any angels sent by God to defend His own. Jesus teaches His people to love their enemies. But those who threaten your peace or safety must be warred against in the realm of the Spirit, and restrained through the power of God.

In 2 Kings chapters 18 and 19 the nation of Judah is repeatedly oppressed by foreign invaders who demand tribute (just like a school bully who takes your lunch money). The situation begins with Shalmanezer king of Assyria invading the northern Kingdom of Israel, which was comprised of ten of the Twelve tribes of Israel (Judah consisted of the remaining two). Israel had earlier seceded from Judah, the dominant tribe from which David and his dynasty of kings sprung. Some of Judah’s kings were godly, but ALL of Israel’s kings were rotten eggs. Israel had stopped going to Jerusalem, capital of Judah, to worship at the Temple according to God’s commandment. Instead, the northern Ten Tribes fell into idolatry, and God had to judge this kingdom. In the days of Hezekiah, King of Judah, the rival nation Israel was carried away captive by Shalmanezer, who took them to Assyria.

The nation of Judah had some bad kings, but Hezekiah was one of their best. Hezekiah was a God-fearing man. He didn’t deserve the troubles that came his way. Once idolatrous Israel was taken captive, Assyria set its sights on Judah, its smaller neighbor. Just like a bully to feel all pumped up with power after beating up the biggest kid on the block. Now it should be a piece of cake to beat up his smaller brother. Judah’s cities were conquered and placed under tribute. Then Hezekiah worried that he might have done something to upset Sennacherib, the then king of Assyria. Hezekiah pleaded for mercy and promised to pay any tribute laid upon his nation. Many of God’s people are so weary of taking a stand against the devil that they find it easier to just let him rob them.

The king of Assyria is a fitting picture of satan, oppressor of men’s souls. Sennacherib demanded thirty talents of gold and three hundred talents of silver. I checked my Strong’s Concordance for the value of gold and silver talents, then multiplied by the number of each type of talent demanded by Sennacherib. The

combined value of the tribute was around $43,680,000 per year! Just for the privilege of being allowed to live in your own territory and go about your business unmolested!

Hezekiah was so desperate he gave the king of Assyria all the silver in his house. When that wasn’t enough, Hezekiah even stripped all of the gold and silver out of the Temple to pay his oppressor’s tribute. In the Old Testament, gold symbolizes the Glory of God (2 Kings 18:14-16). Silver represents God’s wisdom and the precious riches of His Word. The devil isn’t content to steal your earthly happiness. He wants to ransack your spirit and soul as well. Satan wants to destroy the very Glory of God within you. He wants to rob you of the wisdom and strength you gain from the Word of God. Satan Satan rules over this evil world system, but God Himself owns the title deed to the earth (Psalms 50:12). God’s children are His heirs, and joint-heirs with Christ their Lord (Rom.8:17). But satan wants you to be his serf, laboring under a burden of fear so you can pay him rent wrenched out of your innermost being. The devil wants Christian believers to stop seeing themselves as heirs of God and to feel like helpless worms to be stepped on. In this present evil age, continual prayer must be offered up to God for His help to overcome the adversary of our souls.

Sennacherib wasn’t content with extorting protection money from Hezekiah. He wanted to steal the population of Judah, just like he’d carried Israel away as slaves. Rabshakeh, Sennacherib’s ambassador, pleads with the people of Judah to give up and submit to being taken captive. He says it won’t be so bad, they’ll enjoy a land full of good things to eat and drink (verse 32). In verses 33-35 Rabshakeh argues that other kings and nations appealed to their gods for help but it didn’t do any good. In essence, Rabshakeh is inviting the Judahites to emigrate to his own nation and be assimilated into it. Join our gang and we’ll stop beating you up!

Like Rabshakeh, Satan will lie to you to wear down your resistance. He will cause you to think of others who sought supernatural help and it didn’t come. The devil promises to stop hassling you if only you’ll pledge allegiance to him and “follow the crowd” to hell. Reminds me of that epic battle between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader in Star Wars. If only Luke would turn to the dark side of the Force, Darth Vader will stop blasting him with his light saber and Luke will have a bright future to look forward to. Those who buy satan’s lie have sold their souls for a bag of peanuts. When all is said and done, the only thing you can take with you when you go is the treasure inside your heart. Where will the bully’s buddies be when the stern Judge of all the Universe weighs his deeds and finds him wanting? Those who fail to make Christ their only Righteousness will be judged on the basis of their own works and be condemned for them. The devil knows this. As much as he hates us, he hates his own children enough to want them to burn with him in hell.

King Hezekiah gave the people some very wise advice: Don’t say a word back to the enemy (verse 36). The danger was that in so doing, their defenses would be lowered and they would end up negotiating with the enemy and end up giving in to Rabshakeh’s demands.

In 2 Kings Chapter 19 Hezekiah goes to the Temple to seek God’s help. Hezekiah mourns over the blasphemy uttered by the enemy against the Living God. It isn’t long before the prophet Isaiah comes on the scene to deliver God’s reply: Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and shall return to his own land: and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land (verses 6-7).

In verses 8-13 Hezekiah is once again tested. Will he believe God’s promise of deliverance or be intimidated by further threats from the enemy? Like all bullies, the devil doesn’t give up easily. Once again Rahshakeh returns and taunts the King of Judah and his men about past victories won by the king of Assyria over various nations. The devil uses the same old tired tactics to wear out the saints of the Most High (Dan.7:25).

Instead of panicking, Hezekiah returned to the Temple to consult with God over the enemy’s renewed threats. Hezekiah took the intimidating letter and “spread it out before the Lord” (verse 14). In verses 15-19 Hezekiah appealed to the God Who was powerful enough to create the heavens and the earth, that One Who dwelled between the cherubims (an exalted order of angels). Hezekiah appeals to Almighty God to hear what this idolatrous king is saying against Him.

Once again the prophet Isaiah came by with an encouraging word from God. God’s nation was destined for victory and an overcoming remnant would be saved to return and take root again . But as for now, God’s promise was that no military tactic taken by the king of Assyria against Judah would be permitted to succeed. God would defend the City of Jerusalem for His own sake and for the sake of His servant David (verses 32-34). This promise brings to mind God’s promise: No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn (see Isaiah 54:17).

Just ONE angel went out from the Lord and smote 185,000 Assyrians single-handedly! Once Sennacherib returned to his own land, he went to worship his heathen gods, but got struck down by the real God as punishment for his blasphemous sins (verses 35-37). If you are in danger ask God to send a powerful warrior angel to fight on your behalf.

God loves people, but when necessary He is a Man of War (Ex.15:3). He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Malachi 3:6; Heb.13:8).

If You’ re STILL Unsure About God

Perhaps you still aren’t totally sure about Christ. You just want to be sure that His love is for real, that He’s true to His Word and won’t let you down when push comes to shove. I’ve received countless answers to prayer, some of them miraculous. My husband, daughter, and I have seen God’s power in action.

The God I love and serve is very merciful. If you feel the need for Him to prove His love to you, why not “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalms 34:7-8). If satan is bullying you, pray this prayer out loud, speaking to Him from the depths of a sincere, seeking heart. Don’t hurry through it, but meditate deeply upon it until the Peace of God fills your being, and calm returns to your troubled soul. God’s peace is a sure sign that your prayer has been answered.

Dear God in heaven, I’ve been burnt by so many people and have often felt that life itself is one bad trip going to nowhere. Perhaps I’ve even gone so far as to question Your fairness in putting me on this earth in the first place. A world where I’ve often felt unwanted and unneeded, and been betrayed even by people I thought were my friends.

I still have my doubts. I can’t pretend otherwise. But still, I’m open to any proofs You could give me that You do care, and are both willing and able to deliver me from trouble.

I feel insecure and threatened, Lord. I hate being taunted and stared at. At times, I feel that others intend very real harm against me. Please befriend me, even though I’m still unsure about You.

I do desperately want and need the intervention and protection of Your guardian angels. Please dispatch powerful warring angels to do battle against unseen entities of darkness which motivate others to want to hurt me. Not everyone will respond to words of kindness, for some are so hardened in heart that they are determined to have their perverse fun. Jesus prayed: “Father, forgive them (His enemies), for they know not what they do. But hardened bullies know full well what they are doing! They commit crimes because they think they can get away with it, not because they have no inkling that their cruelty is wrong. I realize that Your very nature is love, but sometimes love has to be tough. So if it is necessary for my protection from physical harm, I ask You to take strong disciplinary action against my human foes. It is written in Your Word that You have authority to chastise the heathen. I do not want You to inflict permanent injury upon these dangerous enemies, but to punish them enough to strike the fear of God into their hearts, and to prevent them from posing any further threat to my safety.

As for emotional attacks, I ask that You would remind me that the insults of others are built on the lies of the devil, because nothing satan says about me is ever Your truth, just destructive garbage. Satan is a liar, and no truth abides in him. I ask that You would be a Mighty Shield round about My soul, and to so undergird me with an awareness of my value to You, that nothing bullies say would have the power to faze me. If the bully gets so frustrated by my composure that he resorts to physical threats, I pray that You would arise to my defense and fight for me, even as you fought for Your Chosen People in the Bible. I ask that you would even render all enemies, human and demonic, powerless, Lord, and cause them to fall into any traps they set for me. I know the bully in my life could not even draw his next breath to threaten me with unless You permitted it, so I ask that you would take away his strength and influence over others. I ask You to break any power he has over me, and to render powerless all his evil alliesc. The bully acts like a kingpin immune to punishment, O Lord, but in Jesus’ Name I ask that You would hit him with Isaiah 14:5, which promises You will break the sceptre of the enemy’s power. And once they have fallen from power, please help me to leave them in Your hands, rather than fantasizing about revenge.

It is written in Psalms that even if an whole army pits itself against me, I can trust in Your protection. Please, Lord. Every time I leave my house, let a contingent of angels go with me to act as my bodyguard. And set a cordon of guardian angels round about my dwelling place so I’ll feel secure in my own home, safe from intruders who mean to rob or harm me. You are well able to do this. In the Old Testament, You defeated entire armies with just one warring angel. You protected Lot from a big gang of perverts who tried to break down his door so they could attack him. You will give me the confidence that You are able to handle even a gang of bullies. But at the same time, I will never deliberately seek a confrontation to put You to the test. Prudence is a virtue you impart to the wise. I pray that Your angels would contrive to keep those wicked ones out of my way, and hinder them from getting at me in the first place. Please put obstacles in their pathway to keep them from meeting up with me.

Please, Lord, touch me with the power of Your Holy Spirit to heal any injuries I’ve received, either physical or emotional. I even ask that anything stolen from me or destroyed by the bully would be fully restored. For it is written: For this purpose the

Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. I ask You to prove Yourself to me as the Almighty, Ever Living God of the Universe Who restores the broken in heart, to be to me the Lord Who heals, and the Mighty Warrior God Who fights in defense of His people.

If only You would do these things for me, Lord, I will be so grateful to You. I just need for You to make the first move, to prove that You really are my dearest Friend and will defend me. In Jesus’ Holy Name, amen.

God: Avenger of All Unrighteousness

We are to desire for justice done be done on unrepentant bullies. Not to satisfy some ungodly lust for revenge, but that God might be glorified in His role as the Supreme Judge of all the Earth. While it’s only human to feel furious with evil people, much of my discontent springs from this: Bad bullies do bad things in a world God created for good, and they laugh all the way to the Bank of Hell with precious things they’ve stolen from their victims: basic human dignity, being able to reach out and love others, personal confidence, peace, emotional and physical health.

The bully, who has not partaken of the nature of Christ, is already condemned to hell (John 3:18). Hell is the bully’s home town, for he is from beneath (John 8:23), and will spend eternity there with satan, who is his father and instructor in wickedness. The bully in hell will not be pitied by God when the awful waves of His fearsome wrath relentlessly sweep over his damned soul. That is only fitting, for the bully had no pity on his victims while he lived on earth. The fact that the day to day crushing of the victim’s helpless soul was beyond endurance did not cause the bully to lighten his oppression in the least. God declares His enmity toward those who fill the land with violence (Ezekiel 8:17-18). God pronounces doom upon them: Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.

Again in Ezekiel 9:9: Then said he unto me, The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perverseness: for they say, The Lord hath forsaken the earth, and the Lord seeth not.***** The sinners depicted here fully expected to get away with it, because God was up in heaven minding His own business and they were down on the earth doing their dirty business unhindered.

At least that’s what they thought. God says they’re only fooling themselves. And as for me also, mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense their way upon their own head. (verse 10). *****That’s the perfect justice of God. What you sow, you reap.

Isaiah 51: 7 Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. Verse 8: For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.

Think of it. God will turn every snarling, evil, pitbull bully into WORM FOOD someday. Even if that devil dog goes around bragging that he’s the most invincible gangster who ever terrorized your school bus, his end will be a gross one.

Psalms Chapter 7 is the prayer of a desperate man who prays for God to save him from his enemies. His enemies are rending (tearing) his soul into pieces (verse 2).

The Psalmist goes on to plead with God that he is unjustly being persecuted and has done nothing to provoke the attack. The persecuted man pleads with God to judge rightly and bring the wickedness of the wicked to an end. These verses, followed by my commentary, warn of the terrible judgment in store for violent evil men:

Psalms 7: 11 God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.***** God is no overindulgent grandpa sitting in the sky who turns a blind eye to sin. God can get boiling mad! God is angry with the wicked every single day.

Psalms 7: 12 If he (the sinner) turn not, he (God) will whet his sword: he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. Jesus, Who many say would never allow any unrepentant sinner to go to hell says in Luke 13:3: Repent, or ye shall all likewise perish.”Repent” is derived from the Latin re+pentare, which means to turn again. Unless a sinner returns from his wicked way (Isaiah 55:7) God will whet (sharpen) His sword of judgment. Already He has bent his bow to shoot at the sinner hardened in impenitence and unbelief.

Psalms 7: 13 He (God) hath prepared for him (the enemy) the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors.**** God has already prepared weapons of war to use against the persecutor. He has ordained (chosen) which arrows to draw from His quiver to fire from His bow of judgment. This concept of God preparing things for a purpose is Scriptural. God prepared something good, a shady shrub, to shield Jonah from the hot sun. But Jonah had a bad attitude in his life which needed to be corrected, so God also prepared a worm to eat that shrub (verse 7). But punishment is infinitely more painful than correction, because there is no hope for sinners who are sitting on God’s death row. Hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, but wicked men also shall go there (Matt.25:41). In that sad scene, sinners are sentenced to eternal hellfire for passive sins of refusing to give food to Christ’s hungry brethren, or to help them in other ways. How much angrier must God be with a gang of bullies who brutalize a defenseless child or old person!

Other Details of the Fate of the Wicked:

Psalms 7: 14 He (the persecutor) made a pit and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. VERSE 15 His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate (crown of his head). VERSE 16 closes Psalms Chapter 7 with praise toward God for the righteousness of these judgments.

Wait a minute. Didn’t Jesus instruct His disciples to bless them that persecute you in Matthew 5:44? Yes, He did, because lost sinners are possible candidates for salvation. But all sinners ultimately must be judged by God if they will not repent of their sins and by faith accept that Christ received God’s judgment of sin upon Himself. So much for today’s politically correct concept of a benign grandfather in the sky who never gets mad at anybody, regardless of what they say or do. Some think that Christians are called to be good doormats for Jesus, and have no right to ask God for justice. Jesus Himself refutes that notion in Luke 18:1-8. A poor widow repeatedly appears before an unjust judge, pleading for him to defend her rights and take action against her adversary. The unjust judge would not bother to help her for a while, but she kept on coming. Finally, the judge got tired of listening to her pleas for justice and ruled in her favor.

Notice, gentle Jesus calls this man an unjust judge. Why? Because of his refusal to avenge the widow. Does Jesus commend the unjust judge for withholding a judgment which might have caused discomfort or inconvenience to the woman’s enemy? No, Jesus never did call the judge a just man who was exercising godly love by withholding righteous judgment. Jesus called him an unjust judge. In the last two verses of that passage Jesus says this: And shall not God avenge His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?

Even the martyred saints in heaven long to see justice done. No, they’re not being sinful by feeling this way. Saints in heaven are the spirits of just men made PERFECT (Heb.12:23). In Revelation 6:9-10 a company of departed souls has gathered under the Throne of God in heaven. They are martyrs, who were killed for their faithfulness to the Word of God and for their testimony of faith in Christ. They ask the Lord of Heaven, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?”

Their words shock not because there is something unjust about them, but because they are recorded in the New Testament, an era during which millions have obeyed Christ’s commandment to be patient, love enemies and pray for them. The Church Age has been a period of long patience and forbearance on God’s part as He has given mankind ample opportunity to repent and receive Christ as Savior.

Perhaps even the martyr Stephen will be present in that company calling upon God to execute His perfect justice. If he is, it will most likely be because Stephen wants to see the honor of God vindicated in God’s righteous judgments against blasphemous sinners who have trampled the Name of Christ underfoot in this earth for such a long time. In Acts 7:60 Stephen prayed for God not to hold his murder against his enemies. What marvelous mercy manifested in Stephen’s life! But Stephen was no softie. Surrounded by a crowd of angry religious scholars, Stephen stood up to them with God’s truth. Before the mighty Sanhedrin he presented a historical dissertation on the giving of the Mosaic Law and the Israelites’ inability to faithfully keep it. Stephen concludes with verse 51-53: Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of Whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the Law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.

Stephen actually calls these eminent religious leaders murderers and betrayers of the only righteous Man Who ever walked this planet! Talk about chutzpah! Just think! These mean old persecutors in their long flowing robes and skull caps reading the prophets hour after hour, conveniently forgetting that some long-ago ancestor of theirs drove those same prophets out of town under a hail of flying stones!

Well, poor Stephen got his share of stones that day. But he received a wonderful hero’s welcome in heaven. So wonderful was his joy he forgave his persecutors. And this begs a question: Time after time the Bible teaches that repentance and faith toward Christ are necessary to receive salvation. If Stephen’s persecutors died in unbelief, they surely are in hell today. At least one we know of, Saul of Tarsus, DID repent later and became Paul the Apostle.

If Stephen’s persecutors were going to hell anyway because of refusal to accept Christ’s atonement, why did Stephen ask forgiveness for them? Because Christ forgave His own enemies from the cross, who “knew not what they did”, or were not aware of the horrible sinfulness of their actions. That was God’s grace in action. Also,

Stephen might have had familial love for his own ”kinsmen according to the flesh”, as Paul did (Rom.9:1-3). The Jewish nation has a sense of family connectedness largely lacking in the Gentile world. Besides that, Stephen manifested concern for his unconverted persecutors, hoping some of them would be saved. The best I can understand it is this way: Say there is a prisoner in jail who owes a million-dollar fine for releasing toxic chemicals into the atmosphere, chemicals so horrible a few people have died. Unless the fine is paid the prisoner will never be let out. A very rich man takes pity on the prisoner and offers to pay it in his place, but the judge says the rich man cannot do this without the permission of the prisoner. If the prisoner says “yes”, then the fine can be paid and the prisoner set free. But for some reason the prisoner hates the rich man’s guts and refuses to give this man the satisfaction of doing something nice for him. Meanwhile, the prisoner also racks up a smaller fine for pushing dope in the jail. The prisoner has a brother who is able to pay the smaller fine but not the bigger fine. The prisoner hates his brother, but not as much as he hates the rich man who offered to get him out of jail. So the prisoner allows his brother to pay the fine for dope pushing.

Why does the prisoner’s brother pay this fine, knowing it won’t reduce the sentence the guilty man will ultimately serve? Because it is an act of love, and perhaps, the brother hopes, it may soften his brother’s heart to repentance. Even if Stephen forgave his murderers for killing him, other unrepented-of sins could have doomed his persecutors to hell. Those of them who refused to repent went there because they committed the much more fatal sin of rejecting Jesus, God’s only Way of Salvation. Many hardened sinners absolutely will not allow Jesus to save them, because they hate Him so much!

During the Great Tribulation, persecutors of believers will be branded with the Mark of the Beast (Rev.13:16-18). Whoever receives this mark will forever forfeit any hope of repentance (Rev.14:9-12). Then the battle lines will be clearly drawn and there will be no more fence-sitters vacillating between the kingdoms of God and satan. At that time the saints in heaven and on earth will KNOW there is no further possibility for persecutors to receive salvation, so they will have no qualms whatsoever about calling upon God to pour out judgment upon the wicked.

Jesus’ gentle nature, the supreme delight of saints who have been transformed by His merciful grace, will no longer be available to people who finally choose to side with satan and go to hell. Those damned souls, who despised meekness as weakness, will be forever sealed in their sin. They will be so hardened they would crucify Him a second time if only they could.

The Terrible Winepress of the Wrath of God

Far from being forever meek and gentle toward sinners, God declares in Isaiah 63:3: I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment (clothing).**** How chilling! One day God’s forbearance with sinners will end, and at Armageddon Christ will stain His own garments with the blood of those enemies of His who refused to have their sins cleansed away by His own blood! Let’s look at the entire passage, with my personal comments and parallel verses from Revelation inserted.

Isaiah 63:1 Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save?*****Who else is mighty to save but Jesus?

He alone is our Savior. In this context Christ appears in dyed garments. But what color are these garments dyed, and with what are they dyed?

Isaiah 63:2 Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thine garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? Parallel verse: Revelation 19:13 And he (Jesus) was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called the Word of God.

Isaiah 63:3 I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. Parallel verse: Revelation 19:15 And out of his (Jesus’) mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Isaiah 63:4 For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come.******Think Jesus doesn’t believe in taking vengeance on His enemies? The time for that is indeed coming. In Luke Chapter 19, Jesus, in the parable of the ten pounds, compares Himself to a king who went away to receive for himself a kingdom. He has returned to get an accounting of his servants’ stewardship. In verse 27 King orders His enemies to be executed in Luke 19:27: But these mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither and slay them before me.

Isaiah 63:5 And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore my own arm brought salvation unto me; and my fury, it upheld me.

Isaiah 63:6 And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth.*****At Armageddon sinners are forced to drink of the wine of God’s fury. A parallel passage is Revelation 14:14-20, where unrepentant sinners are harvested by the angels and thrust into the terrible winepress of the wrath of God Almighty:

Revelation 14:14 And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. ****Jesus is referred to as the Son of man several times in the Gospel of Matthew (see Matt. 24:44).

Rev.14:15 And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.

Verse 16 And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped.

Verse 17 And another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.

Verse 18 And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe.

Verse 19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.

Verse 20 And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horses’ bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs (some 200 miles).

Just reading these passages brings to mind a picture of the Lamb-turned-Lion Jesus, with indignation blazing in His eyes because mankind has finally rejected His offer of mercy and defiled His Father’s planet with sins too horrible to fathom. Notice, especially, God isn’t merely irked by mankind’s sin. He is so furious He is about to trample out the grapes of wrath until His garments are stained red. Many suppose that when Christ speaks of His vesture dipped in blood (Rev.19:13), He means only the blood He shed on Calvary for the sins of mankind. But this time it will be His enemies’ (Isaiah 63:3) blood on His clothes. Christ came the first time as the Lamb of God to save mankind, but the second time it will be as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, to punish sinful mankind for their rejection of His mercy.

On the Day of Judgment God will be so far from pitying the sinner He will actually LAUGH at the destruction which falls upon hardened, unrepentant sinners (Proverbs 1:24-chap.). God will actually laugh in mockery when calamity comes to the sinner who caused calamity in his lifetime. The same thing is reiterated in Psalms 2:4: He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Bullies might spend their entire lives laughing at God and His seeming indifference to their sin but God will turn the tables on them and have the last and longest laugh of all! Whatever a sinner sows he shall also reap (Galatians 6:7).

Shocking scriptures, but I didn’t make them up. They’re right out of the Word of God. Jesus Christ, Who is One with the Father, will one day rejoice that His Father has been glorified in His perfect execution of judgment on the ungodly. This temporary dispensation of mercy does not mean that His nature has changed from one dispensation to the next. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). The best way I can reconcile the gentle Jesus with His future role as soon-coming Trampler of the Grapes of Wrath is this: the old carrot and stick approach. It seems God has put His stick on the shelf for awhile. During the 2000 years of the Church Age, mercy has rejoiced over judgment (James 2:13). God has tried to woo the souls of men to Himself by offering them the carrot (love and mercy). Throughout this long dispensation of Grace He has sent His rain of blessing on both the righteous and unrighteous (see Matt. 5:45). God has told His children to pray for their enemies and to love them (Matt. 5:44.). That really takes the power of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t it? But what do you mean by "love"? There are times love must be tough. Love must take a stand against wickedness and stand for righteousness. If you see a teenage thug ripping the clothes off a frightened girl, you must do all in your power to protect her from being raped. And as for praying for a bully, what blessing should you pray on him? You should pray that God will save the bully, so he will know the blessing of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus. But you don’t have to pray the same type of blessing on him that you would on a Christian. You would pray that God gives your Christian friend an open door for service. But you don’t have to pray for the bully to have an open door to get behind the driver's seat and steal someone's car. You don’t have to pray that the bully will have a fun time serving satan. You don’t have to pray some blessing on your enemy which would empower him to serve satan more effectively. You would ask God to bless your Christian friend’s business. but you don’t have to pray that God will bless the bully’s bullying business as he looks for more victims to terrorize.

Sometimes God disciplines His own children for their own good, when they go astray or rebel. David was humble enough to write: It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes (Psalms 119:71). And if discipline is good for people who serve the Lord, why on earth isn’t it good enough for a wicked bully? Why should cruel sinners get preferential treatment if God expects responsible behavior from his own children? God just might need to use a little tough love on the bully to wake him up in case he gets hit by a bus and goes straight to hell. In one way or another the bully must learn not only about the sweetness of the love of Jesus, but about the awful judgment of God which shall fall upon all those who disregard that tender love and reject Christ. Jesus didn’t go around soothing evil men to sleep with warm and fuzzy lullabyes. When Jesus fought against sin He pulled no punches. He said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke 13:3). God wants to save a vicious bully’s soul, not shower him with Hershey’s Kisses while he’s mugging a defenseless old man.

So far as this wicked planet is concerned, God has put His stick away for a time, but He has not thrown it out for good. A wise mother will focus on tender love but she is also realistic. She wishes with all her heart her love could always be happy and smiley. But sometimes her toddler will pitch such a fit she'll stop whatever else she's doing and get to the bottom of the problem before the conflict escalates. That’s tough love. The most rebellious lost souls won’t respond to sweetness and gentleness only. God is about the go get His hickory stick out of the cupboard to give the nations a hard thrashing for turning Planet Earth into one big Sodom. Today God sends rain on both the just and the unjust (Matt.5:45). But when Christ reigns over all the earth He will no longer bless disobedient nations with rain (Zechariah 14: 17-19).

Bullies: Receptacles of God’s Wrath

In their zeal to shout from the rooftops: "JESUS LOVES YOU!", politically correct preachers often overlook one very sobering truth. One which limited human understanding finds difficult to reconcile with a God of Love Who is supposed to be impartial in the way He dispenses mercy: Some people are predestined to be vessels (containers) of honor while others are vessels of destruction. It seems unspeakably unfair, but that's what the Bible says. The bully, like the Pharaoh who oppressed the Israelites, is a vessel of destruction, who treasures up (stores up) wrath which will fall full force upon his head on the Day of God’s wrath and judgment (Romans 1:18; 2:-9). Payday may be a very long time in coming to the bully, but every insult and every evil deed only guarantees him a fatter check from the heavenly Paymaster. On that dreadful day the sinner will find it no laughing matter to be a vessel of wrath destined for destruction. God’s only purpose for this container will be to fill it to overflowing with His terrible, fierce wrath, which shall burn like an oven until His enemies are totally consumed (Malachi 4:1). God will gather in the wheat and burn the chaff, which is useful only as kindling for the fire (Luke 3:17). Far better for a bully to dare to be different and repent, so he can become instead a vessel of honor fit for honorable use in the hand of the Master, someone Christ can fill to overflowing with His Spirit and all the treasures of His goodness and grace. Eternal treasures are lightly regarded by the cool crowd, but are the only ones which will last for eternity (Matt. 6:19-21).

In Romans Chapter 9 Paul sets forth Pharaoh as an example of a man God chose before the foundation of the world to be a vessel of wrath destined for destruction (verse 22). God’s purpose for the existence of the vessel of wrath is that through executing righteous judgment upon the basest of sinners God might demonstrate the greatness of His mercy toward the vessels of honor. Once I made a patchwork

quilt of many brightly colored squares. I sewed a black border around it, and because of the darkness of the border the colors looked that much more beautiful. It's hard to understand now, but in witnessing God’s severity toward impenitent sinners our own salvation from eternal damnation will appear that much sweeter to us and God will receive an abundance of grateful praises from us, His redeemed saints.

In Romans 9:15, Paul reiterates God’s message to Moses in Exodus 33:19: I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.*** Mercy, compassion, and grace are God’s personal property and it’s His prerogative to decide how to dispense them, and to whom. I believe the same principle applies for the atoning Blood of Christ. Somebody still owns this priceless Commodity. That One is God the Father, Who received it when His Holy Son sprinkled it on the Mercy Seat in heaven as an atonement for our sins (Hebrews 9:12). Be careful of your attitude toward the precious Blood of Jesus! It is your red lifeline to eternal life, the only hope you’ll ever have of being allowed access to the Presence of a Holy God. Peter gives a solemn admonition to believers in II Peter 1:10: Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. For if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. The clear implication is it is possible to fall even after becoming a believer. How much more perilous is the position of the hardened bully who has only contempt for the things of righteousness!

Predestination to eternal salvation is a deep mystery of God which only He fully fathoms. If it weren't in the Word of God, I would question predestination as being a valid doctrine, since at first glance it seems glaringly unfair. But God does have foreknowledge of who will receive Christ and who won't. On the one hand you have salvation offered freely to all mankind. And whoever receives Christ and faithfully follows Him into heaven is obviously one of God’s vessels of honor. But sinners who keep saying "no" to the gentle drawing of the Spirit of God will one day discover that He has ceased to deal with them about their need for redemption and has turned His back on them forever (Genesis 3:16). The hardest thing for me to comprehend is that God has a purpose even for the vessels of dishonor who reject His Son. It is a dreadful role to fill, with an awful reward vastly different from what the true believer in Christ will receive for his honorable life of service. What you sow you shall reap. A bully is only out to gratify his own powerlust and he sows lots of hurt. Apart from Christ, his greatest hope is that he has a crop failure at reaping time. Yet if a violent person is always shielded from the consequences of his actions, does he ever truly learn the fear of the Lord?]

Ezekiel 33:7-9 declares that the wicked are doomed unless the faithful watchman warns the wicked to turn from his wicked way. God tells his servant to "warn them from Me." God did not say: "Tell that bully Jesus loves him so much that He'll look the other way if he feels like stabbing the other kid in the corridor." No, the bully, like all other criminals, is in deep trouble unless he is brought to a repentant faith in Christ which leads to forsaking his wicked way. It might be politically incorrect to warn him of the judgment of hell, but you do him no favor by selling him soft soap religion which doesn't require repentance.

Some teach that since we are saved by grace and not through our own good works, there is nothing at all we can do to help ourselves, even to ask God to save us. There is a false teaching going around that one need not even pray for salvation, and all that is needed is silent assent in the heart to what Christ has done on our behalf. But in Acts 8:22, Peter rebukes Simon Magus and advises him to PRAY for God’s forgiveness. With our mouth confession is made unto salvation (Rom. 10:10), and the only excuse for omitting this step of salvation would be if a person were mute.

The doctrine of passive assent even relieves the sinner of the responsibility to do his own repenting. The Son of God goes out to seek and to save that which was lost, but it was the Prodigal Son who went home to his father. In turning back, he repented. The word "repent" is an ACTION verb, not a mere sentiment. "Repent" comes from the Latin re+pentare, which means to "turn again". Repentance is an act of the will. WHOSOEVER WILL may come to the Fountain of Living Waters, Christ Jesus, and be born anew (Rev. 22:17). In this darkened era, the very notion of sin is questioned. But bullies will be forever lost and sealed in sin unless they learn that there is a sin they need to be forgiven of, and a hell they need to avoid. It behooves each person to act responsibly toward God on his own behalf, and by God's grace, to make his or her own calling and election sure.

Pray for and Bless Those Who Curse You_But Beware of Which Blessing You Pray Upon them

What you sow you always reap. Praying for your enemies can best be described as praying that the Lord of the Harvest will give them a crop failure for the evil seeds they sowed instead of their having to reap the full consequences of their evil actions. But sometimes sinners will never learn that there is a hell to be feared unless they are allowed to suffer a little in this world. I have heard of cases where convicted murderers being led out of the courtroom have mocked the grieving relatives of their victims, especially when they got off lightly. Why should those hurting people pray that God will bless some son of satan with an easy life of bliss? Why pray for God to bless our enemies with more strength to hurt more people? Some people are so wicked they will only take their resources and use them as weapons of evil. Do we expect God to throw out the red carpet for creeps who boast that they are immune from retribution? The woman taken in adultery was forgiven by Jesus. As to what happened to her afterward, the Bible is silent. Perhaps her own husband never forgave her, but she at least escaped a negative harvest of stones reaped for sowing sin. But what if she had laughed all the way to the place of execution, boasting that even if she died for her adultery, if she had to do it all over again, she would still sleep with the other guy? I doubt Jesus would have intervened if she’d had such a wicked attitude toward her own need for redemption from sin!

The Bullied Bird

Even in nature the law of sowing and reaping holds true, consistently, season after season. My mother wrote me about one woman who had to repair a section of the back of her house. There were gaps in the masonry that needed to be filled in with fresh cement. In one crevice she found a bird’s nest with baby chicks in it, waiting for their mother to bring them food. Some friends of hers were with her at the time. One of them pleaded with the woman to take the bird’s nest out first before she filled in the hole. Instead, she just plastered it in, covering up the baby birds and laughing as if it were a joke. The mother bird got back. The tiny creature scratched away at that spot for hours, struggling to get to her babies. The woman made fun of the bird, who must have felt grief as well as anxiety.

I knew this woman personally. She had been very nice to me ever since I’d known her, and she never would have bullied any human being. But she thought it was no big deal for an animal to suffer.

God views it differently. In Old Testament Law He even makes provision for the humane treatment of animals. In Leviticus 22:28, people are forbidden to slaughter both the cow and her calves in one day. Deuteronomy 22:6-7 says that if we take the eggs from a bird’s nest to eat, we must let the mother bird go. If we treat animals

humanely, we prolong our days upon the earth. The inference is clear: Cruelty, even toward animals, shortens your days upon the earth.

Now if God is so concerned about animal welfare that He shortens the days of animal abusers, why shouldn’t he be even more furious with those who abuse other human beings made in His own image?

Right after her abuse of the bird the woman I spoke of began to suffer ill health. She got cancer and needed surgery for it. She lost her zest for life and didn’t enjoy going out with her friends anymore. And someone reminded her: “See? I told you you’d get paid back for being cruel to that little bird.”

Prophetic MessageChrist: A Lamb And A Lion

Psalms 7:11; 97:10; John 1:29; I Cor. 16:22; I John 3:8; Rev. 2:6, 5:5; 6:1; 15; 19: 11-18

Some Christian scholars make the mistake of trying to cram Me into a box of their own making, which doesn’t extend beyond the limits of their own understanding. This may seem contradictory, but Christ is portrayed in Scripture as both a Lamb and a Lion. It is a common misconception that I am so meek I never raise My voice and never get angry, even at the worst sinners. My love, it is thought, simply won’t permit that. I am expected to be a quiet mouse standing helplessly by on the sidelines watching satan do his dirty work unopposed.

For thousands of years I have dealt in restraint toward this wicked world, giving all men an opportunity to turn from their sins and choose life eternal. I came the first time as a sacrificial Lamb to atone for the sins of the world. But My lamblike nature doesn’t make Me hate sin any less. Why would I have come to this earth to destroy the works of the devil if My patience and tolerance knows no bounds? Why shouldn’t you and I hate what the devil is doing to damn souls to an eternity in hell? You are called to be a spiritual warrior, not a nodding diplomat holding peace talks with the devil!

Soon I am returning to take My rightful place as King of kings, and it is then the Lionlike aspect of My nature will be fully manifest. I will uproot the wicked from this planet, and cast them into outer darkness, because they hated the Light and fought to snuff it out. Light cannot co-exist peacefully with darkness, anymore than a brothel can be consecrated to be used for My glory.

Hate the sin, but love the sinner. By all means, warn such a one in compassionate love. Many will continue to scoff and throw My gracious offer of salvation back into My face. Some consider the consecrated Christian a crank and a nuisance to civilized society. But when I shall appear to take My loved ones out of this decaying world, countless sinners will curse themselves for being so blind to the truth.

Don’t ever let some well-meaning “Bible expert” tell you it’s not okay to hate evil!

God’s Arrows are Aimed at the Heart of the WickedDeut.32:22-23; Psalms 2:4-5; 7:11-13; 11:5; 16; 37:12-15; 45:3-7; Prov. 1:24-31;

Isaiah 13:6-11; 63:3-6; Zech. 2:8; Romans 2:5-6; 9:22;II Pet. 3:7; Rev. 19:11-16

You who brag about your coolness and your invincibility as you prey on the weak and defenseless, I am about to break you in pieces! Some of those you have harassed

and hurt are My children. It matters not in My sight that you are often ignorant of which ones are believers in Christ. When you hurt the least of these My little ones, you touch the apple of My eye and will by no means be held innocent. Your whining pleas of “I didn’t know any better, Lord” will not mitigate My fury when I unleash My firestorm of judgment to fall upon your heads. It will be much less painful for the people of Sodom and Gomorrah on the dread Day of Judgment than it will be for you, who had countless chances to repent of your sins and accept Christ as Savior before My Coming!

Those who love violence and hate righteousness My soul loathes. My arrows are being readied upon the string of My bow to strike you with calamities when you least expect it. As an arrow whizzes through the air and strikes dead the enemies of the King of the Realm, so will you reap the fruit of your own wicked ways, sometimes gradually but at other times with a swift suddenness which will overwhelm you.

When your victims cried for you to leave them alone all you did was mock their pleas for mercy and hurt them some more. You kicked them when they were down. You afflicted an already broken heart, so you yourself will be broken into many pieces. Yea, saith God, I will grind your proud, evil hearts to powder like a miller grinds coarse wheat grains into fine flour. I will trample you in My fierce wrath and fury, just as grapes are trampled to squeeze out the wine. You thought it was funny, seeing the school scapegoat cringing away from the crowd you were so proud to be a part of. And when you graduated to the world of work, you used your cruel tongue as a sharp sword to stab My children in the back.

You are of no use except to be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction: something for Me to pour out My wrath into. And the awful fierceness of that wrath is going to overwhelm you infinitely more than you overwhelmed your victims with gut-wrenching fears which drove some of them to take their own lives. I will deal much more leniently with your dead victims than I will deal with you murderers who drove them to early graves. You laughed about the cheap entertainment you gained by bullying others, so I will laugh at you when your judgment falls upon your wicked heads! You who trampled so merrily on others and showed no mercy, will be trampled upon like dog dung in My fury. Because you lightly esteemed the blood of your victims your blood shall be upon your own head when I repay you in kind for the misery you sowed in the lives of others.

How horrible it will be for you when angels usher you into My Presence for judgment. Because you have ignored My pleas for repentance toward Me and faith in My Son Jesus, I will shut My ears to your pleas for clemency. I will have the last and loudest laugh of all as you finally roast in hell for all the wickedness you have committed on Planet Earth. I will have you in derision, all you cruel persecutors of weak, defenseless souls, you cowards who beat up elderly pensioners and rob them in their own homes because you do not fear the limp-wristed laws of your land! The smoke of your everlasting burnings shall ascend before My Throne in heaven both day and night. The tragic scent, so pungent with sulfur and so undiminished by the rolling passage of millions of ages, will be sweet to My children because it will remind them forevermore that I loved them enough to perform a sad but necessary task I took no pleasure in_destroying souls whom I created for life and not for death.

I’ve Got Your Number, Punkster!

So you wicked punksters boast that modern technology has given you yet more power over your victims? You have used your cell phones and computers to torment and harass the weak and the innocent at all hours of the day and night so that he or

she gets no peace even in their own homes. I am against you, saith the Almighty. I am not impressed by your puny little scientific advances in mischief-making. I’ve got technology up here in heaven you’ve never even dreamed about and your primitive toys are nothing in My sight. I record your every motion, your every evil thought, I know what you’re about to do even before you take the first step toward carrying out your latest plot against your sacrificial victim. My how your daddy satan loves the sacrifices you make to him, in torturing the weak and driving them to desperation and sometimes even suicide. How proud you are of yourselves when you carry out such a “clean” murder as to bully someone into their own grave!

Well, you shall not escape My just wrath. You brag about the crimes you record on your puny little toys but the day will come when you will view a multi-dimensional full-color replay of all the rotten things you ever did since you were tiny children old enough to know right from wrong. I will requite you in kind for all your wickedness after your private screening of your own sins is finished! This time it will be YOU, the nasty bully, who sweats his guts out in terrible fear too deep for words...not the person you outnumbered and beat up on the sidewalk or the little old lady you mugged outside the bus station for pocket change.

Do not flatter yourself that you’ll be hanging around much longer to create more and more trouble till you’re a gray-haired old man yourself. I’ve got your number, punkster, and when your number’s up, your appointment with your terrible JUDGE will arrive with a vengeance!