I don’t know how many of you have been attentive to the news, but in the last three months there have been some happenings that should alarm everyone. For those that have not been paying attention to the recent events, allow me to recapitulate what has happened during these last three months that should have everyone alarmed, especially parents.
• August 26, 2006, in Essex, Vermont, a 27 year old man entered an elementary school looking for his ex-girlfriend and shot two teachers; one died and the other was seriously injured. After the incident the police discovered that this man had killed the mother of his ex-girlfriend.
• September 13, 2006, in Montreal, Canada, a 25 year old man entered a college armed with a semiautomatic rifle and began shooting. A young woman, eighteen years old, died and more than one dozen students and faculty were wounded before this man committed suicide.
• September 26, 2006, in Bailey, Colorado, a man between the ages of 30-50 years old entered a high school and took six young girls hostage at gun point. After sexually molesting or abusing the girls, he killed one of them and then committed suicide. It is said that this man had intended to kill all of the girls, but that the fast police action prevented him from doing so.
• September 29, 2006, Cazenovia, Wisconsin, a young man, fifteen years old, entered a high school, armed with a shotgun, and killed the school principal.
• And the most recent occurrence, October 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, a man 32 years old entered an Amish school, and shot ten girls between the ages of six and thirteen, and later committed suicide. Up till today five of the girls have died.
The experts don’t have a clue as to why these things are occurring, and definitively they can’t explain the meaning behind these dreadful events. All of the experts, that is to say the psychologists, psychiatrists and sociologists are perplexed by these events. And now we must all ask ourselves, how can these things be happening? Something that I have said in numerous occasions is that we are living in very difficult and dangerous times. These incidents that I mentioned are the ones that have received the largest media coverage in recent months, but the reality of it all is that violent and horrific events take place on a daily basis, events that leave us horrified and alarmed. These violent events in the schools have impacted me greatly, and not only because I am a parent, but because I firmly believe that the children and the youth are the future of the church. What is happening is that our youth is being attacked by Satan and his demons more than ever.
Keeping these horrible events in mind, let’s now open our bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 28. In this chapter we find that Moses tells the people of Israel the blessings that they would receive if they remained faithful to God, and we also find that he warns them as to what would happen if they did not. Unfortunately the people did not listen and beginning around 722 B.C., they were conquered and taken into slavery. Although these verses describe events that took place a long time ago, the Word of God is alive, and in these verses will find very well reflected the events of our times, and we will discover the main reason as to why these things are happening.
Deuteronomy 28:15-21 - But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: 16“Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. 17“Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. 18“Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. 19“Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. 20“The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. 21The LORD will make the plague cling to you until He has consumed you from the land which you are going to possess.
I think that all of us here will agree when I say that the first verse of the scriptures that we are studying today we find the reason as to why things are the way they are now days in our world. The reason is because the vast majority of the human beings, and unfortunately this also includes a large group within the church, have stopped listening to the Word of God completely. And seeing these type of horrific events unfold before our eyes prove beyond any doubt that due to the abundance of evil that exists in this world, this world is experiencing God’s curse. This is something that is also very well reflected in Malachi 2:2 when we read “If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name,” Says the LORD of hosts, “I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.” Please note that this verse also clearly states that if we do not hear His voice, we will be cursed. I firmly believe that the reason why we are seeing God’s curse in the world is because the majority of humanity has stopped listening to His voice. The majority of humanity has exchanged God’s truth for the lies of the devil. And this is something that we were warned about as we find in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 when we read “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” But as the people of God we must stand firmly, now more than ever, in God’s promises and in His Word. We must stand firmly in our faith and we must not compromise our beliefs for anyone or anything. We can not exchange the incorruptible truth of God, because if we do, then we will share the curse that has come to the world. This is something that is very well illustrated in Romans 1:21-25 when we read “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
What has happened is that the devil has filled that empty space that exists in the life of many with evil. The devil has filled that empty space that many have left in the life of their children and family members with drugs, alcohol, sex, satanic music, violent computer and video games, depression and rebellion. How has he been able to do this? I don’t want to sound like a parrot that only repeats things, but the reason he has been able to do this is because people have stopped listening to God. What has happened is that the majority of people have become so preoccupied or occupied in the tasks of their daily living, that they have forgotten to occupy themselves in the education of their children. They have trusted the education of their children to the school system, where they believe their children will receive a proper education from where they will develop correct moral principles, but the great reality of it all is that this has not happened. It has not happened and it will not happen because it is impossible to develop proper moral principles apart from the Word of God, and God has been banned from our schools. For those that don’t know, in 1962 the Supreme Court. Citing the first amendment of the Constitution, determined that prayers in schools had to be suspended. In other words, the Supreme Court decided to eliminate God from the public school system. Therefore, in our schools it is prohibited to speak about God, or about anything having to do with God. In other words, everything that is good or that could produce positive results have been eliminated; however, the wicked and evil is overlooked, accepted, ignored, and on many occasions justified. This is why with frequency we find that in schools, things that begin to deviate the mind of our youth are admitted as a passing fad. The wicked and evil is not prohibited; the children or youths can attend schools dressed in macabre clothing, they can use pentagrams around their necks, they can attend in costumes for Halloween (satanic festival), an event that is celebrated at the end of this month. Our youths and children are being dragged from our homes by demons, and the blame does not lay completely in the school system. The blame lays on all of those that do not take the time to teach, educate, and direct their children.
The Word tells us: “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land…” Without a doubt, this is something that we are seeing very clearly in our time; with every day that passes our youth gets more lost. Our nation is deteriorating more with every passing day. The moral principles of the family unit have reached the lowest level that it could reach. And this is all due to the fact that God’s voice is not being heard. The violence in our country continues to grow, and the experts can’t explain why this is happening. But you do not have to be an expert to know that it is because the majority of humanity has turned their backs to God. This is why I tell you today that as faithful believers, it is our responsibility to preach the gospel to the world. Let’s begin filling that empty space that exists in the life of many, and let’s evict the evil sentiments that have invaded the life of people with God’s Word of peace, love, and mercy. As faithful believers we can be the difference in this evil and wicked world. I know that today I have brought you some very strong words, but these are words that must be heard because we all need to wake up to the reality that we can’t continue to live outside God’s will. We can not ignore what He is telling us. Our youth and children are in more danger than ever. They can easily be seduced by many different means, and as men and women of God it is our responsibility to prevent this from happening. As parents or heads of family, it is our responsibility to teach our children and loved ones that we must live under God’s will at all times. We can not justify the worlds actions, we have to say: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! God does not want us to lead a cursed life; God wants us to lead a blessed life. But in order for this to happen, we must first pay close attention to what He tells us. Look carefully at how this is very well reflected in Deuteronomy 28:1-2 when we read “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God.”
The enemy of humanity is lose in this world and is trying to destroy us all, but one of the blessings that will reach us when we hear God’s voice is as we find in Deuteronomy 28:7 when we read “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” The devil knows this, the devil knows that when God is present, that when a Christian stands firmly upon the Word of God, that when a Christian is attentive to His voice, he has to flee; “they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.” And it is for this reason that we must be attentive to God’s voice, and we must teach our children. We have to care for that which God has given us; we have to lead a charge to rescue the youth from Satan’s claws. In Proverbs 22:6 we read “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” This is the only way that we can lead a charge to effectively rescue our youth from our enemy. It is time to attack our enemy and to lead a charge to rescue all of those souls that are out there lost in the justifications and ignorance. Let’s attack the forces of our enemy trusting that “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face.”
Just like recent events prove, there is very little that we can do physically to protect our children and loved ones from the evil current that is dragging this world. But there is something that we can do that is much better than any physical action that we can take. Let’s never forget what we find in 1 Peter 3:12 when we read “For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.” Tell the person next to you, God listens to the prayers of the righteous. This is why I want all of us here today to unite in prayer for our youth, our children, and our families. Let’s ask God to protect them from evil at all times, and to guide their each and very step. Let’s ask God for a special blessing for us, let’s ask Him to give us wisdom. Let’s ask Him for this special blessing because we desperately need it in order to properly instruct and direct our children and family. The reality of it all is that being a parent or the head of the family is not an easy task. Both jobs are very difficult and take a lot of our time, and if we want to do it well, we will need wisdom from God. Let’s also unite in prayer today for all of the families that today find themselves suffering due to these horrific acts of violence. Let’s ask God to comfort them, and to allow one of his messengers to reach them with His word of salvation and peace.
In conclusion. As I said in the beginning, these recent events have all of the experts perplexed, they can’t explain why these things are happening but all of us here know the reason very well. In Galatians 6:7-8 we read “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Unfortunately this is exactly what is happening in the world today. The world is reaping the corruption of the moral character that has been seeded through the immoral and depraved programs that are transmitted daily. The world is reaping the violence that has been seeded through the computer, video games, and the movies that serve to only glorify violence, death, and the powers of darkness. The experts can’t explain why these recent events, but the reason why they can’t is because they don’t want to admit that the world is reaping what it has sown by not listening to God’s voice. Let’s think about this for a moment; can a laborer expect to reap the seed that he planted yesterday? Of course not, the laborer must take care of that seed, and he must care for the field so that he can eventually reap what he has planted. The devil has done this exactly; through time he has planted violence, the corruption of moral principles, and rebellion, and now he is reaping. Why has the enemy been able to plant all of this? He has been able to do it because many have left an empty place in the life of their children or loved ones, closing themselves in their own ideas and opinions without taking the time to consider the correct actions, and disregarding completely the conviction that the Holy Spirit provides. We can’t allow the enemy to continue gaining ground in our families, and in our homes. But the only way that we will be able to stop him from doing this is to listen to God’s voice.
