Judgment and Restoration, 8/23/16

In our time in the body of Christ in America there is a lot of confusion and deception about the issues of judgment, repentance an restoration. Many are gathering to themselves teaching that tickles their ears and not clinging to the truth. Many are seeing that America is not what she used to be and are wanting restoration. But we need to understand that there is no restoration without first judgment and then the whole-hearted repentance that judgment is designed to inspire.

Judgments are designed to teach righteousness:

Isaiah 26:9 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 With my soul I have desired You in the night,

Yes, by my spirit within me I will seek You early;

For when Your judgments are in the earth,

The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

This learning of righteousness happens when we suffer the ill consequences of our sin. When we come face to face with our sinful nature and what it has done to us and begin to cry out to God for repentance, then we begin to be on a path that can lead to restoration. But if we are under judgment, then until we repent God is against us, growing weary of our refusal to repent and having to pummel us into the needed repentance:

Jeremiah 15:4-8 New King James Version (NKJV)

4 I will hand them over to trouble, to all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem.

“For who will have pity on you, O Jerusalem?

Or who will bemoan you?

Or who will turn aside to ask how you are doing?

You have forsaken Me,” says the Lord,

“You have gone backward.

Therefore I will stretch out My hand against you and destroy you;

I am weary of relenting!

And I will winnow them with a winnowing fan in the gates of the land;

I will bereave them of children;

I will destroy My people,

Since they do not return from their ways.

Their widows will be increased to Me more than the sand of the seas;

I will bring against them,

Against the mother of the young men,

A plunderer at noonday;

I will cause anguish and terror to fall on them suddenly.

This is where America is at right now: being judged but still not really repenting significantly as nation. God wants to relent and restore but cannot until his righteous nature and Holy Anger against us appeased with adequate repentance. At this point he cannot promise restoration but can only say what he would like to give to us if we will repent:

Jeremiah 15:19-21 New King James Version (NKJV)

19 Therefore thus says the Lord:

“If you return,

Then I will bring you back;

You shall stand before Me;

If you take out the precious from the vile,

You shall be as My mouth.

Let them return to you,

But you must not return to them.

And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall;

And they will fight against you,

But they shall not prevail against you;

For I am with you to save you

And deliver you,” says the Lord.

“I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,

And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible.”

So then he tells us what he requires of us to bring the desired healing and restoration:

Isaiah 58:6-12 New King James Version (NKJV)

“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:

To loose the bonds of wickedness,

To undo the heavy burdens,

To let the oppressed go free,

And that you break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;

When you see the naked, that you cover him,

And not hide yourself from your own flesh?

Then your light shall break forth like the morning,

Your healing shall spring forth speedily,

And your righteousness shall go before you;

The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.

Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;

You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’

“If you take away the yoke from your midst,

The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,

If you extend your soul to the hungry

And satisfy the afflicted soul,

Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,

And your darkness shall be as the noonday.

The Lord will guide you continually,

And satisfy your soul in drought,

And strengthen your bones;

You shall be like a watered garden,

And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

Those from among you

Shall build the old waste places;

You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;

And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,

The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

If we respond to this cry for his holy heart and truly repent, then and only then can he begin to promise the restoration we so desperately need:

Isaiah 61:4-7 New King James Version (NKJV)

And they shall rebuild the old ruins,

They shall raise up the former desolations,

And they shall repair the ruined cities,

The desolations of many generations.

Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,

And the sons of the foreigner

Shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

But you shall be named the priests of the Lord,

They shall call you the servants of our God.

You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles,

And in their glory you shall boast.

Instead of your shame you shall have double honor,

And instead of confusion they shall rejoice in their portion.

Therefore in their land they shall possess double;

Everlasting joy shall be theirs.

So, my fellow Americans, let us no longer be guilty of being rebellious and stiff-necked and refusing to repent while trying to tell God to restore us without us owning what we have done to violate his holy statutes. Rather let us humble ourselves and cry out God in repentance that he may stay his hand of judgment against us and begin to take us toward restoration. Please join me in praying repentance for being a Rosicrucian Nation and let us Cry Out to God for America that he may hear from heaven and heal our land.

Steve Pursell, 8/23/16