Day of Vengeance

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Short Summary
The discourse explores the concept of the “day of vengeance,” portraying current global turmoil as a divine trial where earthly institutions—civil governments and religious systems—are judged for their failures and oppression. It emphasizes that this period is both a time of correction and preparation for the coming kingdom, illustrating the process as a courtroom trial with God as judge and Jesus as prosecutor, highlighting the eventual restoration and blessing for humanity following the judgment and removal of evil. The speaker also shares a personal journey from fear and confusion about prophecy to understanding and comfort through scripture study, underscoring the importance of prophecy in interpreting present events and God’s plan.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse: “The Day of Vengeance, Heaven and Earth on Trial”

Context and Purpose of the Discourse
– The speaker chose the subject of the day of vengeance and the trial of heaven and earth due to brethren’s concerns about current troubling world events.
– The aim is to provide illustrations and scriptural insights that help understand unfolding events on earth, offering comfort amid difficulties.

Personal Background and Initial Challenges
– Grew up Baptist, struggled with doctrinal questions, especially “Why did Jesus die for my sins?” which the church could not clearly explain.
– Felt guilt and avoided New Testament stories about Jesus initially.
– Raised with teachings about the Rapture and fearful end-times scenarios, including the idea that those not immersed at the Rapture must die as martyrs.
– Baptist teaching discouraged deep prophecy study, suggesting believers would simply witness events unfold.
– Learned the importance of having a spiritual guide and recognized the lineage of truth from Jesus to apostles to modern-day messengers.
– Emphasized patience of brethren who helped overcome indoctrination and strange ideas.

Study and Understanding of Prophetic Truths
– Found comfort and enlightenment in studying the volumes of prophetic literature (notably the first four volumes).
– Key scriptural truths include:
– “The wages of sin is death” (not eternal torment).
– Resurrection as life from the dead.
– Jesus’ invisible presence after his return (John 14:19: “Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more”).
– Revelation as symbolic, explaining why Jesus can return invisibly yet be recognized spiritually.
– Learning prophecy took years; each volume has distinct focus:
– Volume 1 (“The Time is at Hand”): The presence and return of Christ.
– Volume 2 (“Thy Kingdom Come”): The true and false kingdom classes, preparations for God’s kingdom, and the testing of the Lord’s true followers.
– Volume 3 and 4 (“The Battle of Armageddon”/”The Day of Vengeance”): Judgment of religious and civil powers, removal of false Christian systems, and the final trial of the world.

The Day of Vengeance: A Complex and Peculiar Event
– Based on 2 Peter 3:7: The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
– Isaiah 34:8 and Isaiah 63:4 mention the “day of vengeance,” which involves retribution and correction rather than mere payback.
– God’s vengeance is just and measured, aimed at correcting mankind and preparing for the Kingdom.
– The “year of recompense for the cause of Zion” (Isaiah 63:4) emphasizes God’s defense and restoration of His people amid controversy and opposition.

Trial Illustration and Structure (Fourth Volume)
– The discourse uses a courtroom trial as an illustration of the day of vengeance:
– Judge (God), prosecutor (Jesus, representing the people), defense, jury (humanity), witnesses, evidence, charges, negotiations, verdict, and sentence.
– The trial investigates whether crimes (sin and oppression) have been committed by institutions of mankind:
– Civil governments and religious systems are principal defendants.
– Christendom is charged with hypocrisy and failing to live up to its profession as God’s Kingdom.
– The prosecution must prove guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt on behalf of society.
– The jury (humanity) must recognize the guilt and carry out the sentence.
– The trial serves as the final lesson on the permission of evil, testing how far mankind goes in rejecting God’s law.

Scriptural Support for Judgment and Justice
– Psalm 94:1-10 calls on God as the “God of vengeance” to judge and repay the proud and wicked who afflict the innocent.
– Psalm 82:1-5 condemns unjust judges and leaders who fail to defend the poor and needy.
– Jeremiah 51:8-9 and Ezekiel 34:1-10 illustrate God’s judgment against corrupt leaders and false shepherds.
– Hebrews 12:26 highlights that “everything that can be shaken will be shaken.”

Current World Conditions and Social Aspects of Judgment
– The world is experiencing intense social, civil, financial, and religious upheaval.
– Artificial intelligence, technology, societal isolation, moral decay, and financial instability are part of the shaking.
– The struggle to adapt technology for good versus its misuse is emblematic of this testing.
– Financial systems are precarious, likened to being held together by “chewing gum and rubber bands” (from a banker’s testimony).
– Religious hypocrisy is especially condemned; God hates hypocrisy most of all.
– The trial exposes corruption and the cooperation of institutions (civil, religious, financial) to preserve their power, described as a “mafia” under Satan’s influence (Isaiah 14:16-17).

Satan’s Binding and Restraint
– Revelation 20:2 describes Jesus laying hold of the dragon (Satan) beginning in 1874, initiating his restraint.
– The trial corresponds with the binding of Satan’s systems, not Satan himself, allowing mankind to witness evil’s consequences.
– The permission of evil serves as a contrasting lesson to understand righteousness in God’s Kingdom.

The Verdict and Restitution
– After judgment, a time of restitution and blessing follows.
– Malachi 3:18: “Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.”
– The righteous will shine forth and participate with Christ in blessing mankind.

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Key Bible Verses Referenced:

– Revelation 1:7 – “Every eye shall see him.”
– John 14:19 – “Yet a little while, and the world sees me no more.”
– 2 Peter 3:7 – “The heavens and earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”
– Isaiah 34:8; Isaiah 63:4 – “The day of vengeance,” “My year of redemption is come.”
– Psalm 94:1-10 – Prayer for God’s vengeance and justice.
– Psalm 82:1-5 – Judgment of unjust rulers.
– Hebrews 12:26 – “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.”
– Revelation 20:2 – Jesus laying hold of the dragon (Satan).
– Malachi 3:18 – Distinguishing the righteous and wicked at the kingdom.

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Summary Conclusion:

The discourse presents a detailed, scriptural view of the “day of vengeance” as a divine trial of the world’s institutions—civil, religious, social, and financial—for their failure to uphold God’s standards. Using courtroom imagery, it explains how God, as judge, with Jesus as prosecutor and humanity as jury, will bring about justice, correct long-standing wrongs, and prepare the way for the Kingdom of God. This process involves the binding of Satan’s systems, the removal of stumbling blocks, and culminates in a glorious restitution for the righteous. The speaker’s personal journey from confusion and fear to understanding underlines the importance of prophecy study, patience, and hope amid current global turmoil.

Transcript

Our subject is the day of vengeance, Heaven and earth on trial. Now, I chose this subject because the brethren have really been. They have really been concerned about just what’s happening in the earth and how do we watch properly the current events that we see unfolding in the earth. So our intent today is to give you an illustration that, for me, has been very helpful, inserting through what’s happening in the earth. There is so much going on.

Brethren, what do the Scriptures say? There are tons of scriptures about what is happening in the earth today. But we also have some illustrations, I think, that really help us to measure what’s happening and why, and that give us comfort, I think, as we see the difficulties unfolding in the earth. Now, I wanted to share just a bit of my background.

I grew up as a Baptist, and I share that. Just to give you a little bit of context, my opportunity to get to know you. Perhaps you’ve had experiences like mine. One of my challenges as a Baptist was just, why did Jesus die for my sins? The church could not explain that.

And it really bothered me, friends, why did someone die for my sins? And how could one die for everyone’s sins? And brethren, it bothered me to the point that I loved reading the Bible stories. I would read all the Old Testament stories, and I loved reading even the New Testament. But I avoided the stories about Jesus because I felt guilty.

I owed a debt, and I didn’t know why as the reason. Also, brethren, the Baptist taught quite fantastic things about end times, including the Rapture, which I actually believed and was very fearful of. I was fearful of the time of trouble, and the truth is such a comfort, brethren, when we understand God’s purposes, and in the trouble, the Baptist did teach me a great respect for the Scriptures, but also things like Revelation 1:7, every eye would see Jesus return.

And so I literally believe that, and they literally believe many of the Scriptures in. In Revelation. I was immersed out of fear when I was 13 years old at the time of trouble, because I learned from Reverend Mockerman. He was a wonderful man, but he told me that if you weren’t immersed at the time of the Rapture, you could only be saved later by dying a horrible martyr’s death at the hand of Antichrist.

So you can see fearsome things. Another thing that was a challenge, although this didn’t really come about until learning the truth is that the Baptist would tell you that you don’t need to understand prophecy. You’re going to see everything happen, and, brethren, that is so far from what the Scriptures say about you. Know, being a watcher and so forth.

I used to wonder, okay, if you had to be a watcher and Jesus returned visibly, did that mean I had to be looking at the sky at the very moment that he returned? I mean, very unreasonable things, dear friends. But they also taught don’t follow a man, that the definition of a cult is following a man. Instead, they emphasize that the Spirit reveals truth to you directly through the Scriptures. But it’s like having a voice that would tell you.

Of course, they didn’t say, don’t listen to the minister. You’re supposed to listen to him, and friends, one of the things I realized is later, you know, ministers study books, they follow other men. Where did they get their information? And you look in the Scriptures and you see there’s a lineage to the truth.

I mean, Jesus gave his horse to the apostles and they gave it to us, and the messengers are a further extension of that, that we need one to guide us. Just as the eunuch said to Philip, how can I understand Isaiah 53 unless one is sent to teach me? Well, I had to learn that, brethren, as part of coming to learning the truth, and friends, I share these things because God called me out of deep darkness first that I must praise him.

And I’m very thankful. The truth is such a comfort and so reasonable. You know, many others are in deep darkness and I was, I was really indoctrinated, brethren. It took me a while to unlearn things and to learn about things like the two salvations. Did the Scriptures really teach that?

Where was it? Well, I think about, you know, those in the systems, they’re in deep darkness. We should pity them sometimes, you know, we might cross the line a bit. We may ridicule, it’s ridiculous to think of the Rapture and so forth, but I think we have to be careful when we’re witnessing, you know, they are where they are, and I’m really thankful.

The brethren who spoke with me were very, very patient with some of the strange ideas I had to overcome. Prophetic truths are powerful and inspiring, and one can learn those prophetic truths even going through an indoctrination as I did, brethren, I really feel called out of darkness into his light, and I would also say, don’t give up on witnessing. The brother who witnessed to me talked to everyone in high school, and years later I found out that of all those he witnessed to, he thought I was the last one that would, would get the truth because I was so indoctrinated, friends.

Well, brethren, the first volume is like an old Friend to me, because the truths in it are very powerful, and when I read it, it is like visiting old friends to go back over things that I remember reading. The wages of sin is death, and I’d have to go over. It’s not eternal torment, it’s death.

And then the resurrection is the greatest of miracles because it is truly life from the dead. It is not just a change from, you know, earthly to spiritual existence. But, friends, the Hope Ecclesia, Hope, Indiana Ecclesia, that I grew up in, they really emphasized study, and they actually didn’t want you to come to the meeting unless you studied the first volume first, and I studied it twice.

The first time, I didn’t understand it at all, and I went to the minister and asked him to read it. He didn’t have time, and I was really angry. I went to college, and I thought, I’ll take this book.

I’ll look up every scripture. I’ll find out if this is true or not, and, brethren, it was hard. I prayed every day, Lord, I don’t care what anybody else thinks. I want to know what your Word says.

Because it really bothered me. The brethren are such a small group. How could they be right and all these churches and everybody else be wrong? Well, you know, brethren, I learned later how big was Jesus following. Where did he meet?

He met in homes, in small groups. He didn’t go to impressive places. He did teach in the synagogue, but it’s not like he built a church or a denomination. Well, friends, the first meeting I went to was amazing because all the brethren shared scriptures. It was so different than sitting in the pew and just hearing all the time, put your money in the plate, you know, go to church, those sorts of things.

But I also heard at the meeting where the Lord knows how to time things, that Jesus returned invisibly. Brethren, that was the craziest thing I’d ever heard in my life at that point, because every eye would see him. Well, I had a very, very dear brother who just very calmly said to me, well, John, you’ve learned the two salvations, and you see the ransom, how Jesus died. You’ve learned so much.

He said, if you keep studying, and he gave me a second volume. If you keep studying. There’s a chapter in here on the manner of the Lord’s return that explains why Jesus returns invisibly. Well, I put the fleece out, brethren, because I love what I saw in the meeting.

That was the way I thought everyone should be, everyone contributing. Well, Bren, the first few chapters of the second volume really opened my eyes to the importance of prophecy. Why did God give prophecy if no one was supposed to read it and understand it? Someone sometime would have to understand it. Was this the time to understand it?

Well, chapter five, on the manner of the object of Lord’s return is a masterpiece of comparing scripture with scripture, and it revealed to me that Jesus did return invisibly. You know, brethren, John 14:19, Jesus himself. Jesus himself says, yet a little while and the world sees me no more. So how do you harmonize that with every eye shall see him in revelation?

Well, revelation says of itself, it’s a book of symbols. So there’s a time when all men will recognize Christ. They will discern him, they will at heart recognize him, but they won’t literally see the man Jesus any longer. When I finished that chapter, brethren, I kneeled in my dorm room at college and offered my consecration to the Lord. Well, friends, I share this because for me, coming from a background where you don’t understand prophecy, you could kind of scratch your head at why are there three volumes that address prophecy?

And brethren, some of these subjects took me years to really understand, and that’s assuming I understand them correctly now. But, you know, as you take a look at this, each one has a focus. The time is at hand is all about the presence, everything necessary, every scripture necessary to fulfill before, you know, Jesus could return, and then how that return is accomplished. A kingdom come for me is about the true and false kingdom classes, how the Lord makes preparations for the kingdom, and friends, just.

I’m very much one. I think it’s important to share what you understand, even when it’s controversial. I see two aspects to the reign. The first is a troublous time when Jesus is taking his kingdom and putting Satan out, and then there’s the glorious reign, as the Scriptures describe it, which is what we look forward to as the blessing of all mankind.

But I think one of the beautiful things in thy kingdom come. It’s like the Lord is saying, there are all these who profess to be Christians, who truly are Christians, and so it goes into the tests and the lessons of those who truly live for Christ and how he will reveal them in the end. It also goes into the earthly class. The nation of Israel.

The battle of Armageddon is the one that really puzzled me. Above all, it’s, I think, probably the most difficult volume. But it’s all about the judgment of heaven and earth and how God squares earth’s accounts. You know, friends, on the chart here in front of me, you’ve Got the first dispensation, the second, and then the third. It’s always struck me that, you know, sometimes we speak about the end of the harvest as if that’s everything, but we’re in the time of the end of a dispensation.

It’s not just the fruitage of the Christian nations, but it’s the fruitage, everything that has happened since the Flood, all that’s developed since then that the Lord is dealing with to prepare the way for, for the kingdom, and that’s what makes the good news. Brethren, we have to always look beyond the trouble and look at the blessings coming and realize whatever occurs in the earth is simply heart preparation for mankind. Now, my trouble was, if you look at the subject, say, like the man of sin or the nominal Christian systems, well, the second volume has a chapter on the man of sin, and the third and fourth also write a lot about the false Christian systems, but the focus of each is different. So the time is at hand, answers the question.

The man of sin has come. That is necessary before Christ would return. Scripturally, Thy kingdom Come addresses the development of papacy in the Protestant churches, but the focus again is on the Lord’s people, who and how he brings them out of the systems and blesses them on the way to glory. The Battle of Armageddon focuses on the removal of all false Christian systems and their accomplices, which are the civil powers, and that was originally titled the Day of Vengeance, which personally, I think is a better title.

The Battle of Armageddon has a particular lesson in Revelation. It’s between the sixth and seventh plague that we find it addressed. So, dear friends, I think it’s got a very particular point when Brother Russell changed the title of the Battle of Armageddon. You can find in the reprints, President Theodore Roosevelt had started talking about Armageddon, and it is Brother Russell, I think, taking advantage of what was prevalent in the world to say, here’s an explanation of why this trouble comes. So, brethren, for myself just.

And I’m sorry I’m going so fast, but I look at the time of trouble in a general sense having begun with 1914, but there is a climax that the Battle of Armageddon specifically references. So I just give you my background, friends, I don’t talk about these things all the time, but I’m always happy to share. So my title comes from 2nd Peter 3:7. The present heavens and earth by his word are being reserved for fire kept for the day of judgment, destruction of ungodly men. Brethren, you’re all familiar with 2nd Peter 3, 10, 13 about the heavens and earth passing away.

I won’t go into all of that for time. But there’s a process we believe that is described in those scriptures. We don’t always recognize there’s both a dissolving process or a melting process some of the scriptures used. But there’s also a final destruction aspect when anything that would stand in the way of mankind’s lessons in the kingdom, those things are removed. They’re stumbling stones that if they were left, would be on the highway of holiness.

Isaiah 34, 8, 63:4 mentions a day of vengeance, and vengeance is a word that I think today is a pretty frightening one to us. You know, vengeance has the thought of retribution, and the world, you know, they believe in payback, and it’s always do it worse than, you know, what the person did to you. Well, our Father’s retribution, you know, he is the Lord of vengeance.

He knows how to correct. He knows to what extent any individual is culpable. He sees the effect that the systems have had upon mankind, and it’s really correction and preparing again mankind for that kingdom. What is so wonderful in these two verses, brethren, is the phrase about Zion, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion, and this is from the Tanakh in Isaiah 63, 4.

My year of redemption has come. But there’s a point that the Lord has recognized the controversy, strife and contention that have always been around his people. You know, Bren, the truth has always been controversial, and you as representatives of it, as you share, there are those who some will love it because it’s beautiful. Others will oppose it because it’s not what their church teaches or it’s not comfortable to them to think of responsibility to their Creator.

But God has observed all this, and this point about recompense for the cause of Zion is that there’s a correction made on behalf of the church for mankind. There’s a scripture in I want to forget Isaiah 25 about how the Lord will remove the rebuke, and it’s a beautiful thought that the church, you know, like our Master, is disowned and disregarded in the world. The Lord will remove that rebuke.

And that’s part of this point of view. Recompense for the cause of Zion.

Now our trouble. Brethren, I appreciate this quote from the fourth volume, page 527, that the day of vengeance is complex and peculiar. There’s no one symbol that can describe it. So we find it under symbols like battle, earthquake, fire, storm, tempest, flood, Hail, whirlwind time of trouble. There are all kinds of descriptions of it, brethren.

Why is that so complicated? I appreciate a quote from 4:14 in the first fourth volume, Excuse me, that refers to this time period as a stupendous reversal of history. You know, brethren, what mankind is doing today is looking back at the past and what was good, what was bad about it, what works, what doesn’t work. You know, we have this explosion of information about anything. You can look into the roots of any issue from the past and find out was the French Revolution really a good thing?

There’s arguments about that. Was it good, was it bad? And people argue about that today. This battle of Armageddon, if we take it in the broad sense, I should say Day of Vengeance is the story of correcting wrongs that are centuries old and in which the vast majority of mankind were oppressed. So we’re living in a great turning point in human history now.

Two of the things that make it complicated, brethren. Second Thessalonians 5:3 speaks about trouble coming as travail upon a woman, and this is the day of the Lord coming as travail upon a woman. Now, some of you know this very well, others of us not so well. But how labor comes and it intensifies, but there’s respites in between labor pains, and they get fewer and shorter as you near the time of the birth.

Well, this is a powerful picture because it’s about the birth of the new order, about that glorious rain that is coming. So you have to keep that in mind. We have respites that we might think, well, what’s happening? Nothing is going on. I wondered that in the 80s and 90s, the 90s in particular, the historians called it a holiday from history after communism fell.

Well, does it look like a holiday today, dear friends? It really doesn’t to the world. I mean, Isaiah 24:20 speaks of the earth reeling to and fro like a drunken person. Now, brethren, I think about that whenever the government changes, you know, on the one hand you have, you know, promotion from the left of policies that many in the middle think are crazy. Then the right comes in, the same thing happens.

They promote things so far, right and the middle, you know, doesn’t understand why. We’re in a day of great polarization, brethren, and so that’s confusing. But from the Lord’s standpoint, you know, Hebrews 12:26 says, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. Sometimes it’s from the left, sometimes it’s from the right, sometimes it’s A completely different direction. But it’s all part of this examination of what’s happening in the earth today.

Now the day of vengeance. You may be familiar with the phrase civil, religious, financial and social. Brother Russell uses this many times to describe society in four categories that all four of these categories are being tested, and brethren, we chose this illustration of a trial, the fourth volume. You have a handout to this, which I didn’t bring my hand up.

Just one moment.

On your handout is a depiction of a courtroom, and I have to thank, though he’s long since passed, Brother Edmund Jesuit originally drew that for me. If you have a hand drawn one, that is Brother Edmond’s depiction, and when you look at a trial, brethren, you know there’s a judge, there’s a defense, there’s prosecution, there’s a jury, there’s witnesses. Now, all of this is really to say it’s a simple illustration, but this is really how the fourth volume is organized.

If you turn your handout over, on the backside is an outline of the chapters with the theme text that go with each chapter, and what you find is that there is an introduction, there has to be an investigation. Has there been a crime committed? If it’s believed there’s a crime committed, the case has to be prepared. There’s a time for making formal charges.

Then there’s testimony, there’s evidence presented, witnesses that have to come, and sometimes there’s attempts to negotiate a settlement, and you know, there are closing arguments in a trial and then there’s giving the verdict, but also carrying out the sentence, and probably the part about the fourth volume, like the best is the end, the restitution portion, and brethren, I tell you, I didn’t understand the fourth volume for years until I really came to realize this is how it’s organized.

And I think it’s important. There’s so much history in it, and if you’re a historian, brethren, it’s actually good history of the beginning of these things. But we get lost in that today. I think it’s important to look at the scriptures, look at Brother Russell’s comments.

They’re very illuminating and they fit with what’s happening in the earth today. Brother And I emphasize this, brethren, because it has helped me so much to look at current events and what is going on in the earth. Okay, let me set that aside a moment. So this criminal trial we’re speaking about is this day of vengeance. The institutions of mankind are on trial for sin and oppression against the human race.

And particular defendants in this trial are the nations Governments, civil powers and the religious systems, those are the two, you might say, lead in the trouble, and Christendom is specifically charged with not living up to its profession to be the Kingdom of God. You know, friends, we just had in Wilmington, our fair booth, and I talked to a fellow who, he read the blessings tract and he applied all those scriptures to the churches today, and I slept. I told him, well, if the churches are fulfilling those today, they’re doing a very bad job.

But I think it makes the point, brethren, that, you know, what we see about the kingdom is so wonderful. I mean, heart surgery, replacing stony hearts with fleshly hearts, writing the law on the heart. Where do you see that today? And yet some will say this is the work that they’re doing.

Here’s the handout, friends. I forgot I had it right here. Let me go on through. The key really in this case is the prosecution. The standard in a criminal case is proof beyond a shadow of a doubt of criminality.

And the case is made on behalf of society. You know, I remember when I was first looking at this, the O.J. simpson trial was quite a big deal. The case was titled the State of California versus O.J. simpson.

And I think this is the point, that the prosecution is on behalf of mankind and the penalties are severe. These are very high stakes cases. God is the judge in this illustration, and our Father knows the defendants are guilty. So you might ask, why have a trial? Well, we’ll get to that, friends, but he is the representative of his law.

I’ll give you Psalm 94, verses 1 through 10. You know, brethren, there’s social justice in the scriptures, and Psalm 94 goes into this, that O God Jehovah, God of vengeance, shine forth. Lift up yourself, Judge of earth. Give a just repayment to the proud, and how long shall the wicked, O Jehovah, how long shall the wicked exalt?

They gush, they speak impudent things. All the workers of iniquity speak proudly. They crush your people and afflict your inheritance. They kill the widow and the stranger, murder the fatherless. You can find this kind of theme many places in the Scriptures.

And again, we’re talking about systems, not so much as individuals. The individual judgment is in the glorious reign. It’s not during this time when the stumbling stones are being removed. Jesus is the prosecutor in the picture, and he’s on the people side, and he represents truth and righteousness. You know, brethren, it’s rather interesting.

He said that he judged not according to his own will, but he judged according to the law of God. So the prosecutor is totally in line with the judge. Now, some might say that’s a conflict of interest, but both the judge and the prosecutor are on the side of the people. That’s what’s so beautiful about this picture.

In terms of defendants, brethren, this is just, you know, we take a look at the civil powers, you know, the world today, they are so puzzled. How do you fix the problems in the earth today? We’re living in the time when the wisdom of the wise men have perished, and, you know, I read an article by Peggy Noonan. I don’t know if anybody knows her, but she’s a Wall Street Journal opinion writer.

She is one that worked for Ronald Reagan years ago, and she knows the elites of society, the military. You know, she’s Catholic. She’s very tied in with the Catholic Church. She knows the political elites and so many of the rich and influential in society.

Now, she wrote 25 years ago, the reason I bring this up, she noticed that the elites at that time, they had given up trying to solve the problems. They were so bad then. What they were doing instead was trying to preserve enough of the good life for themselves and for their children for as long as they could. That was pretty astounding to have an article like that in the Wall street journal. Psalm 82, brethren, is another that I think you could mention.

I want to say proper social justice, because proper social justice does not ignore individual responsibility. Psalm 82 starts, God stands in the congregation of the mighty in the midst of the gods. He judges. This is like the leaders today of society. How long will you judge unjustly and lift up the faces of the wicked, defend the poor and fatherless, do justice to the afflicted and needy, deliver the poor and needy, save them out of the hand of the wicked.

And then verse five, I think, really describes our day. They neither know nor will understand. They walk on in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken. That’s Psalm 82, 1:5, which, brethren, by the way, if I don’t quote all the references, you can have my notes later.

There’s also a social aspect, brethren, and I think we. I used to have trouble saying, okay, how are things being shaken and judged socially? Well, you look at the problems of the earth, brethren, and there are things today that are different. Artificial intelligence, you know, the world’s trying to deal with.

Is this going to be helpful? Is it not going to be helpful? And you look at things like the usage of technology, smartphones, for example. There’s a lot written about how that has promoted Suicide and isolation of young people, for example, society struggles to adapt technology to blessed purposes. They’re used often, you know, the number one thing on the Internet is pornography, for example.

And yet the Internet can be such a great, wonderful thing.

Brethren, we also see, you know, Hollywood and other influential types, their lifestyles are studied and people try to copy those. Have they really been helpful, the way that they lead their lives now, financial. I know you’re all aware of the shakings there. It’s pretty amazing that I don’t know if the brother knew. Brother Lorenz was a banker in Los Angeles, and he said 1989, the 20 years before that, that’s 1969.

He didn’t know how the world banking system was held together, that it was chewing gum and rubber bands that was holding it together, in his opinion, and brethren, to me, that’s looking at it today, it’s like saying, you know, the Lord has preserved the time. I gave you the scripture earlier, second Peter 3, 7, that said the heavens and earths are reserved. I think that’s really the critical point. Why are they reserved and what for which I’m going to hustle and get to.

There’s a religious element which really in God’s eyes is the worst. He hates religious hypocrisy above all. It’s all sound that, although you might look at Ezekiel 34, 1:10, that’s a real judgment against the shepherds who feed themselves instead of the flock and take care of themselves instead of the flock. Well, interestingly, in this case, humanity is the jury. It’s because they’re to weigh the evidence of what’s good and bad in society, what’s working.

And brethren, we’ve never lived in a time when there is so much discussion and so much argumentation. I mean, you look at what is said about the political leaders today. You go back 150 years, there was some, but not prevalent, and there’s some. You didn’t criticize the Pope. The further back you go, well, that’s like cross questioning the accused.

Brethren, all this discussion and argument of what is happening in the earth. Now, what’s interesting in this picture, the jury determines the sentence and carries out the sentence. The judge already knows the defendants are guilty. He knows they can’t live up to the kingdom standards. But it’s important for mankind to recognize it.

That’s really the issue. Brethren, I like to think of it as the final lesson on the permission of evil. How far will mankind go? Will they forget to love their neighbor? Even that?

Will it be every man for himself. The scriptures point to that. I won’t quote this, but fourth volume 76 and 77 goes into the point of this cross examination.

Jeremiah 51:8,9. You brethren, you might know the point about Jezebel painting her face before she’s destroyed. Have you ever noticed in a criminal trial, I mean, it just came up recently with the fellow that shot Charlie Kirk. There’s a controversy over does he have to wear prison outfits? Well, he wants to present himself in a better light and I liken that to attempts to negotiate a settlement.

The criminals try to make themselves look better, and you know, brethren, I don’t know about you, but it’s like the politicians promised the world and you know, they can’t deliver it. But they’re trying to present themselves in the most favorable light. I think they’re really afraid. They don’t see how they’re going to get out of what is happening in the earth today.

I think that’s why there’s such an emphasis on trying to control thought that you know, in the last administration they tried to have a ministry of truth because they wanted to suppress things that would be really criticism of the government and authorities. I think they’re very fearful because they can’t deliver on these. You know, brethren, I think we miss how much the Kingdom message has affected the earth. You know, in the days of the kings, the literal kings in Europe, the message that every man would be a king was going forth. What impact did that message have and the world?

You know, I remember this is not that long ago, but in President Clinton’s days, you know, they had a bill of rights for health care and you had a right to be free from pain. Now their solution was give enough drugs to get rid of pain. Well, that’s not a solution according to the Kingdom, but I think it’s the kingdom ideas that have gone forth in the earth that the world just can’t live up to. It’s like putting new wine in old wineskins and it’s bursting those wineskins, those organizations and systems friends. I wanted to mention RICO law.

I don’t know if anybody knows what RICO law is. It stands for racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations. It’s laws used against like the mafia because you know, they are organized in a way. It is very hard to defeat them, and it addresses patterns of criminal activity that lead to ill gotten gains.

To me this really describes how the institutions of earth are cooperating with one another to try to preserve each other. We don’t see the fullness of that yet. But it also would point out, it’s like in a mafia, you have what they call the godfather, who is the one behind it all. Well, brethren, I believe it’s the adversary. These are his institutions that he developed to control mankind, to have his kingdom, an orderly one and so forth.

I like Isaiah 14, 16, 17, you look at the context. It’s about Lucifer, the son of the morning, and how he wanted to be like God. But verses 16 and 17 tell us what they’ll look at in the kingdom that mankind will look and see thee? That’s Satan, and consider, is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake the kingdoms, that made the world a wilderness and destroyed the cities that opened not the house of his prisoners?

You know, mankind has to recognize the adversary was behind all of this, and brother, we mentioned this because sometimes in our discussions. I’m sorry I’m ending with this, but in the binding of the adversary, the process I’ve described is what I personally see as his systems being bound. Now, there’s often an objection among the brethren about Satan’s binding because Jesus has all power in heaven and earth. Why can’t he just bind Satan like that?

Well, brethren, he could. I mean, that’s obvious that he could. I think the point, brethren, is our Father overrules mankind’s experience so they have the maximum opportunity to see the permission of evil, and they’ll get that contrasting lesson of righteousness in the Future. Now, Revelation 20, sometimes brethren will read.

This is verse two that Jesus lays hold on the dragon. I believe the angel coming down from heaven is Jesus returned. 1874. That’s beginning the restraint, the laying hold on the dragon, but it’s really restraining his system. How does Satan lie, friends?

So do the organizations of earth and brethren. This jury that we’ve been talking about, it’s like they’re examining every part of the adversary’s realm and they’ve already rendered partial verdicts. Communism doesn’t work. Colonialism doesn’t work, for example. But it’s like every system, every element, every work in the earth has to be considered and seen for what it is.

And to me, that that really helps to look at just what’s happening. But to remember the good purpose, the jury has to reach the verdict, carry out the sentence, but then they get the blessed lessons of restitution.

I like Malachi 3, 18. This is after a verse about the completion of the church, and God says to Israel, you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him, and that’s a point behind the righteous shining forth is the kingdom. Those who live for God now, He will make plain in that kingdom.

And they will be the blessers, part of Christ doing that work of restitution.

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