As righteous anger rises over the furthering of abortion laws, and the decline of morals, particularly in the western countries, the Lord has been speaking about His desire to prepare the Bride of Christ. These are linked, for the sacrifice of children through abortion or abuse, is also deeply rooted in the church. If we are to see a turn in our respective states away from the welcoming of death, first we need to recognise the sin in the midst of the church, repent, seek forgiveness, be released, and move forward in to destiny as a light bearer for Christ amongst the darkness. There are keys the Lord has revealed as we seek the Lord’s help..involving repentance.

In summary

There are great sins in the church that the Lord will deal with, and it is important He does, for it is causing children to be sacrificed, such as abortion and sexual abuse, and the poor to be ignored, with wealth given first to the rich and the church. These sins are the love of money and the worship of kings (man and woman), where we make idols of both, and in so doing have sadly have given permission for even worse abominations to promulgate in to society. Our voice against which are weak due to the root not being dealt within the church.

• Let us recognise and acknowledge such sins (Lev. 18:21; 20:2-7; Matt. 6:24; 1 Tim. 6:10)
• Let us understand the consequences that arise for these sins (I. 30:33; Jer. 7:31-8:3; 19:1-15; Matt. 5:22; 23:35)
• Repent and consecrate ourselves (Lev. 20:7)
• Restore the headship and rule of Christ to our lives and that of the church..seeking the Lord’s leaders (Eph. 5:23; Col. 1:18; 2 Kings 23)
• Give generously and serve others (Is. 58:7; Acts 2:43-45; 4:32)
• Thank the Lord for His restoration (Jer. 32:35-44)

As we walk this journey of sanctification see the Lord restore His church, renewal come, and His Bride become the bright light and word of God that is heard in the world, causing many to come to the Lord.

The full story

When we consider the moral decline of society, and perhaps the most profound cases such as the legalisation of abortion for full term babies, even those who are healthy, including the murder by neglect of a child born alive during a failed abortion, all based on the will of a mother (and perhaps the medical practices), the decline of societal standards is staggering to say the least. Such laws even leaving open the claims that killing a unborn child by the spouse may no longer be considered murder. The shedding of the blood of the innocent is murder, and nothing less. Bizarrely we are outraged by the killing of unborn native animals, and in some cases have legislated their protection, but not that of children whose life should be protected by society, not seen as expendable as if a burden or an embarrassment. This is an ancient issue.

Leviticus 20:2-7

“Again, you shall say to the children of Israel: Whoever of the children of Israel, or of the strangers who dwell in Israel, who gives any of his descendants to Molech, he shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I will set My face against that man, and will cut him off from his people, because he has given some of his descendants to Molech, to defile My sanctuary and profane My holy name. And if the people of the land should in any way hide their eyes from the man, when he gives some of his descendants to Molech, and they do not kill him, then I will set My face against that man and against his family; and I will cut him off from his people, and all who prostitute themselves with him to commit harlotry with Molech.

‘And the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits, to prostitute himself with them, I will set My face against that person and cut him off from his people. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God.

Now left wings politicians, socialists, and some liberal theologians are pushing for euthanisa, and so completing the picture for them seeing it as viable to kill the most vulnerable (the unborn and the frail). This also begs the question what will happen in the future when unborn children are deemed to be likely disabled, or a prognosis would suggest a person would eventually fall terminally ill!

Add to this now the support by parties for same sex marriage, the continuing lack of support of traditional marriage, and the even more distorted view that gender identity is fluid and determined simply by the mind of a person, we can but wonder where it will stop. To support this, aggressive legislation that hinders and even prohibits freedom of religion and speech is not occurring to counter any attempts to speak about this decline…hardly surprising that the ones who advocated for free speech to support their agenda, now abuse it…classic Marxism and Humanist Manifesto thinking.

It is not hard to see the spirit of death, and the self worship influencing this swing, but perhaps there is a more poignant cause…the worship of kings/queens, and the love of money….and it is in the church.

Matthew 6:24

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

1 Timothy 6:10

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

This corruption matched by the continuing neglect of the poor, and the gross greed now prevalent, where houses are now unaffordable as people seek as much profit as possible, sacrificing the ideal of a family home to make it just another asset investment. Now in Australia, the dream of a home has disappeared for our younger generations, and there seem no willingness to deal with the cause….greed, creating over inflated prices, and continuing support for developers and real estate agencies who fan this flame. While giving to the poor now occurs, increasingly the dollar shrinks, and it also comes during disasters, not for the every day needs of people. The church hiding behind prosperity thinking to explain. When they continue to bank assets and money rather than given to those in need. Promoting all giving should go to the church, and not to those in need.

Rightly some in the church are railing now against these changes, perhaps too late as the early watchmen sounding alarms were largely ignored by the general church leadership and their congregations. Often using ridiculous claims of separation of church and state as why they should not speak up (despite being in a democracy), and perhaps in reality influenced by fear, and compromise, and so remaining silent…thus consenting. Now as the darkness spreads quickly an increasing voice is rising to counter this decline, and intercessor leading with renewed vigour prayers to the Lord to seek His intervention. But the question is, will this succeed when these sins run rife in the church, and their appears little repentance for such actions.

2 Chronicles 7:14

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

For surely the answer to this issue is found in our response, but mostly in the Lord God alone, and our prayer to Him. As it is written, ‘If My people will humble themselves and pray…..turn from their wicked way……then I will heal their land”….God’s people, not the general populace, praying can make it a difference, but this comes with repentance. This is not to say we should not speak out about such things, as Christians we have no choice but to do so, and to remain silent is indeed consenting with such decline, however we need to acknowledge that as the highest mountain of society we should not be surprised if society is like this, if the church also supports such tragedy.

Jeremiah 7:32 – 8:3

“Therefore behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when it will no more be called Tophet, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter; for they will bury in Tophet until there is no room. The corpses of this people will be food for the birds of the heaven and for the beasts of the earth. And no one will frighten them away. Then I will cause to cease from the cities of Judah and from the streets of Jerusalem the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall be desolate.

“At that time,” says the Lord, “they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. They shall spread them before the sun and the moon and all the host of heaven, which they have loved and which they have served and after which they have walked, which they have sought and which they have worshiped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. Then death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,” says the Lord of hosts.

As also revealed in Jeremiah 19:1-15, and Isaiah 30:33, the Lord will turn this place represented by Tophet (meaning furnace, fireplace) in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, where physical and spiritual children are sacrificed, in to a Valley of Slaughter for the kings and people who committed such sacrifice. This place also called Gehenna, the name Christ gave to ‘hell’ (Matt. 5:22; 23:35; Luke 12:5). Be of no doubt those who with an unrepentant heart who willingly spill the blood of the innocent unborn or infant, or support such actions, will find the fires of hell there dwelling place, where the evil they caused will perpetually come up before them. It is with such sadness to look on those who celebrate abortion legislation in state parliaments, for without a change a heart, we can only despair their future.

The Lord God takes such actions as more than serious, and it is clear He will judge those who continue with the killing of the unborn, sacrificing them to the god of self control, and the belief they are king or queen of all in their life. The false god Molech (who Canaanites, and early Phonecians worshipped, and was later represented as idols and false gods such as Baal, Saturn, and Kronos) demands the sacrifice of children. This act sadly followed by the children of Israel as the followed after the idols of those they vanquished, rather than staying true to God. Molech, is best translated, ‘king’, and so revealing perhaps the true ancient issue, that is a desire by us as evidenced by Eve in the garden of Eden, to be as God, and so lord and king of our own lives, and over others.

1 Samuel 8:6-9

But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

Samuel did go on to warn of the evil that followed such a decision of having a king, with Israel told kings will take your children, your wealth, your harvest, and use it for himself and his own kingdom (1 Sam 8:11-18). While some would acknowledge this issue, very rarely do you see leaders repenting for the root that sees the killing of the unborn, the spirit of abortion, and the abuse of children, a like spirit, as to the sacrifice of the poor for the good of personal or church wealth and possession. This sacrifice and abuse of children not only about priest asking women to abort children due to rape or adultery, or the sexual abuse of them for there own desires, but extends to the spiritual abuse, where many the future of a child or spiritual immature in the church is taken for the cause of the pastor and his church, rather than equipping them to be the sons and daughters they are meant to be in God, and setting them free to pursue there God given plan…not trapped to serve the “church’s needs”. This sin includes the continuing feeding of milk to the people in order to keep them like babes, rather than feeding them the meet they need to fulfil their purposes.

Even worse, rarely do we see Christians repenting for placing pastors and others on pedestals, and putting before God their own leader. Willingly sacrificing the destiny of their children and themselves, to be slaves to an agenda of the ruler of the church, rather than the will of God that all should be sons and daughters of God, and all are priest in His kingdom. This all coming because many a people in the church continue to seek a king on earth, rather than understanding Christ is the One King of kings and head of the church. People even seem to accept these kings who will control them and be like a god, acting more like the old Levite priesthood where only they could come before God, and seemed to be the only source of God’s word. Really a form of spiritual laziness, for rather pursue their own relationship with God, and that a journey of sanctification, they give it over to the priest or pastor to do it on their behalf…and surely the divine response to those who do this will be, “I did not know you”.

1 Samuel 12:13-19

“Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the Lord has set a king over you. If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God. However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.

“Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes: Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”

So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”

Many in leadership in the church are acting like the church is their’s, and demanding possession and sacrifice to prove your acceptance of this, and this spirit leads sadly to such evil. Many in congregations are happy with this as they seem to see this is a reasonable price to pay so they don’t have to trust in an unseen God, and have the view that the priest/pastor needs to effectively live out their faith for them, pray for them, and be responsible for their sins. The priesthood of believers is a key tenet of Christianity, where also believers in Christ can come directly to God, and know Christ as their one true Lord and head, but this seems to something many say but do not believe. A key part of the reformation led through Martin Luther was to restore this understanding to the church. The prophet Samuel warned Israel of the cost of wanting a king/commander like other people groups, and this included the king the taking their sons and daughters, and their wealth and possession to support their kingdom. These kings effectively worshipped in title and act, even providing them children and money. For many new laws and doctrine are formed to support their kingdoms, which are given primacy over God’s laws. The desire of such kings see then subtlety trapped by the love of money, and thus drawn further in to self rather than God. This issue is one for the state and church.

God will absolutely destroy the structures created that hinder such a direct relationship between Him and the believers, noting many in the church leadership are continuing to try and pull back the veil Christ tore in two when He died upon the Cross..this action of the Lord’s symbolising that we can all enter the holy of holies, God presence. There are faithful leaders in the church who have found themselves pusheding in to such positions by congregations, and others have resisted this attempt, but find their peers questioning them as their own lives prospers as they learn to harness their people to support their agendas, and demand sacrifice to support the ‘church’.

2 Kings 23:3-10

Then the king [Josiah] stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the wooden image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. Nevertheless the priests of the high places did not come up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brethren.

And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire to Molech.

This not to say the Lord does not call people in to leadership in the church and the community, however they are to have the heart of Christ, desiring to serve all, equipping people for their God given destiny, focussed on bringing people in to a personal relationship with God, and acknowledging they are all royal priests for God…and not lording or commanding them. The ancient battle between the House of Saul (the king asked for by the people – and his name meaning asked of, and ask for), and the House of David (the king who is beloved – the meaning of his name – of God, had a heart after God, and desired to serve Him in wisdom and His people), continues today. One relies on power and strength, and seeking gain, the other focussed on a heart after the Lord, and building His kingdom.

And so as we repent of worshipping kings, and the love of money, so we too can also pray that the Lord would raise up leaders with the heart of Josiah, and remove the places of false worship, and together with our willing and repentant hearts turn afresh to our Lord to serve Him, renew our relationship with God, and raise and equip our children in to maturity, and provide for the needs of the poor, pursuing them with our wealth to help our brothers and sisters in need. On this foundation we become a stronger voice to prophesy in to the wickedness of society, and as in the days of John the Baptist, see an anointing fall that causes the fear of God to come in to many who commit such sins, and turns from there ways. The rise of the latter day “Witnessing Church” of Revelations, where sheep nations will turn to God, but be aware that goats nations (people groups) will sadly harden there hearts against Him.

And what will be the hallmarks of such a repentant heart, a devotion to God, where all walk in humility before Him, sharing His word and love boldly, and sacrificially given out of their substance to help the poor and needy amongst them, not storing up houses for themselves, but selling them to give to those who have none. A people who will stop for the one.

Jeremiah 32:31-40

‘For this city has been to Me a provocation of My anger and My fury from the day that they built it, even to this day; so I will remove it from before My face because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned to Me the back, and not the face; though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. But they set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to defile it. And they built the high places of Baal which are in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire to Molech, which I did not command them, nor did it come into My mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.’

“Now therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence: Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.

AMEN.