A Controversy with the Nations

We read in Jeremiah 25, 31, a noise shall come up even to the ends of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations. He will plead with all flesh. He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord.

Let me pause here to say, friends, what does God have and who does he have it with? A controversy, a controversy, he says. This is a legal term, like a litigation of a prosecutor against a guilty party. It's a judicial picture of a courtroom of justice presided by a judge, a judge who will carry out the sentencing of the law against all guilty lawbreakers.

And to whom does God have this controversy with? With the nations, he says. Look at verses 32 and 33. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth.

In the slain of the Lord, Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth. They shall not be lamented, neither gathered nor buried. They shall be dung upon the ground.

So God has this controversy with all the nations of the earth who turned their backs on God and have forsaken him. But look at Jeremiah 26.3 and see what he says there. If so, be they hearkened, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil which I purposed to do unto them because of the evil of their doings.

Here we see God will relent of his judgment upon them if they turn back to him in sincere repentance like Nineveh turned back to God in sackcloth and ashes from the king to the beast. But if they refuse to listen, if they refuse to amend their evil ways, then the hammer of justice falls because of that controversy that God has with them. In this passage, God is speaking to the Jews in Jeremiah's day who had turned their backs on him, forsaken him, and were serving idols.

Are we not doing the same today? Are the nations of the world, have they forsaken God as well? Have not the nations of the world today each turned their backs on the God of the Bible? Is there a nation out there that takes a stand for God in the Bible? Or have the governments of the world legislated God out of their society and legalized perversion? And not only legalize it, but promote it. They call evil good and good evil. Has not America, a nation that once feared God and served God, has now turned her back on God and forsaken him? If this is the case with America, if God has a controversy with America, does God have a controversy with England? And if with England, how about Scotland? And if with Scotland, how about Wales, Ireland? If God has a controversy with those nations that have forsaken him and who promote evil, then how about Australia? How about France and Germany and Spain and other countries that have forsaken the living God of the Bible? Our text says evil shall go forth from nation to nation with a great whirlwind.

If they refuse to turn back to God, they will fall like dominoes in the wind. Jeremiah 26.3 is a call to national repentance. If a Nineveh repents in sackcloth and ashes, God will relent his fierce anger.

Will we turn from our wicked ways and amend our doings? Will we turn back as a people to the living God of the Bible? Or will we continue to refuse to hearken to him? He's tried to get our attention through sending his remedial judgments upon us in the form of natural calamities like fires, floods, whirlwinds, and pestilence. For America, 9-11 was a wake-up call, but since that time, we've all come back to sleep. What will it take to get our attention? What will it take to drive us to our knees? Will a nuclear bomb have to destroy half the country to get the other half's attention? Or will we still refuse to listen and acknowledge that God has a controversy with the nations for the evil they promote? I believe we are closer to destruction than to revival.

Revival is our only hope of survival. Only God can send revival. But are we blind to our need? Are we willing to acknowledge our sins and repent and amend our ways? And where is the church in all of this? She is sound asleep on the pillows of conformity and compromise.

If the carpets of our sanctuaries are not wet from the tears of the broken-hearted saints crying out to God for the sins of the land in nights of prayer and desperation, then how in the world can we even call ourselves a church? If the church won't turn back to God and repent and lead the way to national repentance, then the hammer of justice must fall. It's either ruin or revival. Heaven, help us all.

Let me pray. Great God, have mercy upon us. Forgive us, Lord, for turning our backs to thee.

Forgive us for our multiplied sins of the land. Forgive us for all the bloodshed. Forgive us for all the adultery.

Forgive us for all the drunkenness. Forgive us for all the legalized abortions. Forgive us for all of our perversion.

Forgive our nation for legislating you out of our society. We as a nation no longer fear you. We are a sin-sick nation.

We're sick from the head to the feet. We as a nation have forsaken the living God of the Bible. Pray in your wrath, remember mercy in your wrath.

Remember mercy. I pray, great God, that you send us a holy ghost revival that will grip the heart of this nation from coast to coast, that you'll save this godless generation of young people today who don't know you and don't give a hoot about you. I pray these things in the strong name of Jesus, amen.