Covenant Theology: Blessings, Curses, and Sanctions: The Hallelujah of Confession

How God Destroys Nations Part 2

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: Covenant Theology

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name: JW00975 🔗

Date: 2005-05-08

Synopsis: In this sermon, John Weaver continues his series on how God destroys nations, focusing on the second method: societal judgment. Using Isaiah 19:2 as the primary text, he explains that God sets people against each other—brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom—as a form of slow judgment that brings unmitigated suffering. He contrasts this with cataclysmic judgments, showing from Lamentations 4 that slow judgments can be more severe. The sermon emphasizes that societal breakdown, racial tension, and internal strife are evidence of God's judgment when a nation forsakes His law. Weaver argues that the only thing holding society together is God's restraining grace, and that love is defined biblically as obedience to God's commandments, not mere feelings. He calls for personal repentance and obedience to God's law as the remedy for societal division.

[John Weaver] I want you to open your Bibles into Isaiah chapter 19. Isaiah chapter 19. And we're going to be looking once again at the second message on how God destroys nations. Isaiah chapter 19 and let's read the first 17 verses. Isaiah 19 beginning with verse 1. The burden of Egypt Behold, the Lord writeth on a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.

[John Weaver] And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbor, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof. And I will destroy the counsel thereof, and they shall seek to the idols and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards. And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord, and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts. And the water shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up. And they shall turn the rivers far away, and the brooks of defense shall be emptied and dried up.

[John Weaver] The reeds and the flags shall wither. The paper reeds by the brooks by the mouth of the brooks, and everything sung by the brooks shall wither, be driven away, and be no more. The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the water shall languish. Moreover, they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks shall be confounded, and they shall be broken in purposes thereof, all that makes sluices and ponds for fish.

[John Weaver] Surely the princes of Zoan are fools. The counsel of the wise counselors of Pharaoh is become brutish. How say you unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are they? Where are the wise men? Let them tell thee now, and let them know what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. The princes of Zion are become fools. The princes of Naphth are deceived, for they have also seduced Egypt, even they that are of the stay of the tribes thereof. The Lord hath mingled a preferred spirit in the midst thereof. They have caused Egypt to err in every work thereof, as a drunken man staggereth in his vomit. Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which the head, or tail, or branch, or rush may do. And that day shall Egypt be likened to women. It shall be afraid and fear because of the shaking of the hand of the Lord of Hosts, which He shaketh over it. And the land of Judah shall be a terror unto Egypt.

[John Weaver] Everyone that maketh mention thereof shall be afraid of himself, because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts which he hath determined against him." Now, I began a series last week, and I dealt with part one on how God destroys nations. In these seventeen verses, there are five ways given unto us how God destroyed Egypt. The principles are still the same today, and we can see these same principles at work not only in our nation, but also in the nations of the world as well. I want you to remember that last week I began this series by talking about judgment. Because every time we think about God's judgment, we think of cataclysmic judgments. We think of the flood. We think of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

[John Weaver] We think of how Elijah cut off the heads of the prophet of Baal. We think about how God smoked King Herod. In other words, here are things that happen instantaneously and very climactically. And so we tend to have that thought in our mind. that if anything is cataclysmic, then, of course, God has done it. And by the way, just reminding you. We get our English word cataclysmic from the Greek word that is used for flood in second Peter two and verse five, and the word is cataclysmos. And so it is a cataclysmic judgment when God sent that flood. However, I demonstrated in my introduction that judgments do not have to be cataclysmic to be from God. You cannot bind God down to simple cataclysmic judgments. Slow judgments are equally from God. And God oftentimes uses what you and I would know as slow judgments far more readily and far more often than He does the cataclysmic judgments.

[John Weaver] Now, in reality, the slowness of the judgment can add unmitigated suffering in a number of ways. For instance, whole Isaiah 19. I'm coming right back there, but look in your Bibles to the book of Lamentations chapter four and verse six. Right after Isaiah, you have Jeremiah and Lamentations, Lamentations chapter four and verse six. I want you to note what the Bible says, and we're talking about the slowness of judgment now and how that slowness can add unmitigated suffering to the judgment. Look in Lamentations chapter 4 and verse 6, Jeremiah says this, For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment, no hand stayed on her. Now I want you to remember that Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations as he was watching Jerusalem destroyed. And he makes this phenomenal statement, for the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people, that is the punishment of Jerusalem, is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom that was overthrown as in a moment, no hands stayed on her.

[John Weaver] Now here's a prime example, not only of slowness of judgment, but how the slowness of judgment adds what I would call unmitigated suffering. You see, Sodom and Gomorrah were overthrown in an instant of time. They were overthrown instantaneously. I mean, they were there and then they were gone. But that was not so with Jerusalem. Jerusalem was judged by God, but her judgment was done very slowly. And therefore, there was much more suffering.

[John Weaver] And that's what he's saying here. There was much more suffering mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually as well. You see, when God destroyed Jerusalem, armies surrounded the city. Jerusalem was besieged for two solid years. Death stalked outside by the armies and their armament. And death stalked inside by famine and disease. Let me show you how badly it was. Look in Lamentations chapter 4, beginning there with verse 7. Because he's going to give you a description now of some of the suffering in Jerusalem.

[John Weaver] He says her Nazarites, that is those young men that had taken the Nazarite vow, her Nazarites were, that is past tense, were purer than snow. They were whiter than milk. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. And their polishing was of sapphire. But what has happened now? Look, their visage is blacker than a coal. They're not known in the streets. Their skin cleaveth to their bones. It is withered.

[John Weaver] It has become like a stick. In other words, they're basically starving to death.

[John Weaver] Now, look what he says in verse nine. They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger. For these pide a way stricken through for the one of the fruits of the earth. Now note what he says. They that are killed with the sword are better than those who die of hunger. When you're killed by the sword, at least you die quickly. But when you starve to death, you die slowly in much anguish and much pain and in much suffering.

[John Weaver] Let me show you how bad it was. Look in verse 10. The hands of the pitiful women have soddened their own children. They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. So starvation and famine stalked the city. And such a rage that women killed, cooked and ate their own children. So here is a slow judgment compared to a quick judgment And Jeremiah said the punishment of the iniquity that order my people. Is far greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why? Because Sodom and Gomorrah was overthrown in a moment.

[John Weaver] It was over and done with, but not so with Jerusalem. Now last week. I showed you how God destroyed a nation religiously when they forsook him and the reason being God will not give his glory to idols. God will not broke any competition. Isaiah 42 in verse 8, God says, I am the Lord and besides me, there is none other and I will not give my praise unto idols nor my glory unto images. So God is a jealous God. And so when God destroys a nation, he will destroy them, first of all, religiously. And then, of course, when he does so, he allows that nation to break down socially. Please remember this. We must remember that religion is basically the glue that holds the fabric of society together. When one leaves the one true and living God, when we leave biblical Christianity and we break down into various sects and isms, we destroy ourselves socially as well as religiously. In other words, what happens basically when biblical Christianity is rejected and you get all the isms and all the cults and all the schisms, then they pit one against the other.

[John Weaver] And so it's not just simply a breakdown in religion, it is a breakdown socially as well. So today I want to show you that when God judges a nation, He not only judges them, first of all, religiously, but secondly, he judges them socially. So look back in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 19 in verse two and look what God says. You can see this social judgment or this societal judgment. He says in verse two, and I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians and they shall fight everyone against his brother. And everyone against his neighbor.

[John Weaver] city against city and kingdom against kingdom. Now, social or society societal unrest is indicative of God's judgment upon a nation. I want you to turn, hold Isaiah 19, but turn in your Bibles to Proverbs 16 and verse 7. And the reason I want you to turn there is because here is a verse that I would encourage you to memorize. I can quote this verse to you. But this verse is so vastly important and so full of truth, you need to see it for yourself. And I would encourage you as well to memorize it. Look in Proverbs 16 and verse 7.

[John Weaver] The Bible says, when a man's ways please the Lord. He make it even his enemies to be at peace with him. Note, when a man's ways please the Lord, he make it even his enemies to be at peace with him. God is capable of making our enemies to be at peace with us. And if God is capable of making even our enemies to be at peace with us, God is certainly capable of enabling brothers and neighbors and citizens to be at peace with each other and to get along. However, when the judgment of God falls on a nation, guess what? A man finds oftentimes that his enemies are those of his own household. That's what our Lord said in Matthew 10 in verse 36. He said that a man's foes shall be they of his own household. In other words, when God's judgment is upon a nation, a man's foes can be those of his own household, the brothers. Now look what God said. Look in verse 2 of Isaiah chapter 19. This is very important.

[John Weaver] Isaiah 19, verse 2, God says, And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians. I will set. This is something that God will do Himself. In other words, the internal struggles and the dissensions in a society will be caused by the judgment of God. Now there's a passage in Amos 3 in verse 6. Let me just quote it for you. Listen carefully to this passage. Here's what God says.

[John Weaver] Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it? Did you hear that? Now, the first part, shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid? Well, that's easily explained because those old cities had watchmen upon the walls. And when the watchmen saw danger, they blew the trumpet and warned the people. Of course, whenever they heard the blast of the trumpet, they were afraid because they knew there was some type of danger approaching them. So he asked, shall the trumpet be blown and the people not be afraid? And then he asked, shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? In other words, God brings evil upon a city in judgment. Social upheaval is indeed God's judgment. When those who ought to be mutual defenders turn upon each other and cut each other down and seek to destroy each other, it is nothing less than the judgment of God.

[John Weaver] There can be no evil greater and more destructive to a state or to a people when they basically turn on each other. Hence, here is a lesson we need to learn. That when nations rise up in a seditious manner, it is the Lord setting them against each other. He inflames their minds for battle and prompts them to slay each other by mutual wounds. And therefore, we should understand the opposite.

[John Weaver] that it is indeed God's favor and God's blessing when we have friendship and when peace and harmony is cherished by neighbors. Just as we must ascribe dissension and upheaval to His judgment, we must ascribe peace and contentment to His blessing.

[John Weaver] Now notice He said,"...and they shall fight every one against his brother. Now, just stop and think about this for a moment. What can be more monstrous to our minds when brother destroys brother? I'm talking about those who are related by blood. When you would take up your arms to destroy each other as if you were a wild beast let loose upon each other. You know, we can discern and comprehend to a certain degree how one man can kill his enemy.

[John Weaver] But to turn around and slay his brother, and by the way, if I wanted to pull out newspaper headlines, there are innumerable cases in this country of brother indeed slaying brother, and brother slaying sister, and sister slaying brother, and children slaying parents, and parents slaying children. Alice and I just saw last night this little Five-year-old girl they found down in Florida. They found her body. Her head was gone. Two weeks later, they found her head. And finally, after a number of years, they found out who the child was. And they arrested the child's mother and her boyfriend for the murder of the child.

[John Weaver] Now, you see what I'm saying? God says that He would turn brother against brother. That is one of the most monstrous things that could happen to a society. Let me ask you a question. If you cannot trust your own flesh and blood, who can you trust? If brother is going to be turned against brother, what do you think about neighbor against neighbor and friend against friend? In fact, look in verse 2 again. I want you to see What God does. Look at verse 2. God says, and I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they shall fight everyone against his brother. And then he goes further, and everyone against his neighbor. Then he goes further, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom. So he says, first, it'll be brother against brother. Secondly, neighbor against neighbor. Thirdly, city against city. And fourthly, kingdom against kingdom.

[John Weaver] Now, Egypt was divided in provinces. So it's kind of like in America here, we'd have Georgia against Florida, and Georgia against Alabama, or Alabama against South Carolina. So it'd be state against state. It'd be the same thing. So the Egyptians Under the judgment of God will be embroiled in endless dissensions and quarrels among themselves. Are you listening? There shall be no need to bring in a foreign force to destroy them. Or they'll destroy themselves. God said I will pit the Egyptian against the Egyptians. Now watch this. As these divisions and animosities are their sin, God is not the author of them, but they come from men's lust, according to the Bible. But God, as a righteous judge, permits them for their punishment. The Bible says in the book of James, chapter 1, let no one say when he is tempted that he is tempted of sin, that he is tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted of evil, neither tempted of any other man. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.

[John Weaver] But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed, and then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. So all of these animosities, all these divisions, all these sins, come from the Egyptians. They come from the citizens. They come from themselves. God is not the author of them. God just allows them. God permits them and God uses them for the destruction of the nation. So here the Egyptians, then, instead of helping each other and acting for each other's common good, they fight brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city. and kingdom against kingdom. A kingdom that is thus divided will soon be brought to desolation.

[John Weaver] You know that's exactly what happened in Israel. I know the northern kingdom pulled away from the southern kingdom. But because of their sins and their constant bickering and fighting, and just read your Bible, either Judah was attacking Israel or Israel was attacking Judah back and forth. You know what God said in Hosea 13 verse 9? He said, Oh, Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. And that is basically. What happened because of their sins, their rebellions, their wickedness, they destroyed themselves.

[John Weaver] Now, let me remind you of a principle. You remember what God said in Galatians 6, 7, and 8? He said, Be not deceived, God is not mocked. For whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth through the flesh shall through the flesh reap corruption. He that soweth through the Spirit shall the Spirit reap life everlasting. Now that principle is true. Not just individually. Not just familially and not just ecclesiastically. It is also true God is not going to be mocked in our individual lives. He's not going to be mocked in our family lives. He's not going to be mocked in our church lives. And He's certainly not going to be mocked in our national lives.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you. We complain about all the violence and immorality. and fraud and wickedness in our country, in our schools. But my question is this. What in the world can you expect when everyone believes and teaches relativism? That is, there are no absolutes. There is no such thing as right and wrong. Everything is just simply relative. If you do not believe in absolutes, If you do not believe in right and wrong, if you believe that everything is relative, then why not steal? Why not murder? Why not rape? Why not pillage? Why not plunder? If everything is relative, why not rid yourself of your whining brother or your complaining neighbor? I mean, come on. If everything is relative and there are no absolutes, There is no right and wrong. The only thing you can expect is total, absolute anarchy.

[John Weaver] What did God say in Hosea 8 and verse 7? He said, you have sown the wind and you're reaping the whirlwind. That's what has happened in our own country. We've sown the wind and we're reaping The whole way of the world and it is coming and great power.

[John Weaver] Now, let me show you, I want you to turn your Bibles to Leviticus 26. Because one of the judgments of God, one of the judgments of God. That is mentioned in violating his law, rejecting and refusing his law. Is that our cities are going to be destroyed? That is, society is going to be in enough people. Leviticus 26 notice if you would please verse 25. And by the way, Leviticus 26 is equal to Deuteronomy 28.

[John Weaver] That is, it is also the passage where you have the blessings and the curses. Now watch this Leviticus 26 and verse 25. God says to his people that reject his law. And I will bring a sword upon you that shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant And when you are gathered together within your cities. I will send the pestilence among you and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. Oh, skip down to verse 31 and I will make your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries into desolation and I will not smell the savor of your sweet odors. Then look in verse 33. And I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you, and your land shall be desolate, and your cities waste."

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you a question. Will God turn man against man, brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor, city against city, and state against state? And the answer is yes. He will do that in a societal judgment. Look in your Bibles, if you would, to Isaiah 49 and verse 26. Isaiah 49, verse 26. Here is an amazing statement. Isaiah 49, verse 26. Look what God says. And then I'm going to give you an illustration of how he did it. Isaiah 49, verse 26. God says, And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh. And they shall be drunken with their own blood as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that I, the Lord, am the Savior and the Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Now what did God say? I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh. and they shall be filled or drunken with their own blood." What is he saying? I'm going to turn them against themselves. Now if you'll go in your Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, you'll see an illustration of this.

[John Weaver] In 2 Chronicles chapter 20, there were some bands that came up against King Jehoshaphat. And there were the children of Moab, the children of Ammon, and the children of Esau. And of course Jehoshaphat turned to the Lord because he said he had no power nor might against such a great company. There was no way that he could fight against this great conspiracy against him. So he prayed to the Lord and the Lord told him what to do. Look in verse 21. And when he had consulted with the people, this is King Jehoshaphat, When he consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord that they should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army. So the singers were leading the army and to say, praise the Lord for His mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and praise and to sing praise, the Lord said, ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir. Now, I want you to note the Bible said, And the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, for they were smitten.

[John Weaver] For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them. And when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, everyone helped to destroy the other. And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked into the multitude, and behold, there were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped. And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves more than they could carry away. And they were three days in gathering the spoil. They were so much. What did God do? God just turned the Moabites and the Ammonites against the Edomites and the Edomites against that. And then when one killed the other, he turned the rest against himself and they killed themselves.

[John Weaver] You know something, folks, I've said this before, but it just probably hasn't registered. You know, really and truly, God does not have to send a great judgment upon us. All he has to do is to leave us to ourselves and we'll kill each other. All he has to do is restrain his grace. I don't know if you've noticed what is happening in America or not, But America is falling apart along racial lines.

[John Weaver] Blacks are pitted against whites. Whites are pitted against blacks. Hispanics are now in the mix. I mean, they're more than in the mix. They're the majority in the Southwest. You've seen the billboard. Welcome to what was it? Welcome to San Diego. CA was marked out, welcome to San Diego, Mexico, was written and there was a big uproar about the billboard. You look how many Hispanics we have in this particular state. Now I'm just simply pointing out the fact there is not only Hispanics, there is an Indian large Indian minority in this country. I'm not talking about American Indians, I'm talking about Indian Indians. You can't go to a motel, you can't go to a convenience store without running into Indians.

[John Weaver] How about the Arabic people? The Muslim people? How about the Orientals? The point I'm trying to make is this. We have turned into a multicultural society, and in America, now we have every ethnic group under the sun living here. Ultimately, if God withdraws his restraining hand, each group will be pitted against the other group. That's what God said, I'll turn brother against brother. Neighbor against neighbor, city against city, state against state. At some point, someone is going to say, Brother Weaver, I believe exactly what you're saying, but I want you to understand that the powers that be designed this kind of racial tension so that they could better control us all.

[John Weaver] Well, that is undoubtedly true. But it is equally true that if everybody obeyed God's law, that kind of tension could not exist between us regardless of the planning and the scheming of the one worlders.

[John Weaver] Now listen to what I'm about to say. I want you to listen carefully. You do not have to believe in miscegenation in order to be kind and civil to strangers of other races.

[John Weaver] Now, I use the big word, some of you may not even know what miscegenation is, but it's intermarriage. Listen to me, you do not have to believe in interracial marriages just simply to be kind to strangers and people of other races. In fact, let me tell you what God commanded. God commanded that there be one law for Israel and one law for the stranger that sojourned among them.

[John Weaver] Let me show you that. Look in your Bibles, first of all, to Exodus chapter 12. Exodus chapter 12, verse 49. Exodus 12, verse 49. Look what God says. One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among you. One law shall be to him that is home-born, and to the stranger that sojourneth among you. God says one law. Doesn't matter if you're a home-born Israelite or if you're a stranger. There is to be one law. Look in Leviticus 24 and verse 22.

[John Weaver] I could multiply these passages. But Leviticus 24 verse 22, God says it like this. Leviticus 24 verse 22, you shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for one of your own country, for I am the Lord your God. God says you're to have one law. Look at Numbers chapter 15 and verse 16. Numbers 15 verse 16.

[John Weaver] God says one law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you. Now over and over, God says there's to be one law. Doesn't matter who it is. There's to be one law.

[John Weaver] Now, I want you to look back in your Bibles to the book of Leviticus chapter 19. I did not read this passage, but I want you to see what is included. In one law toward the stranger. As one law toward he that is home born. Look at Leviticus chapter 19 and let's begin there with verse 34. Then I'm going to try to answer another question. Look at Leviticus 19 verse 34. God says, well, let's read verse 33. And if a stranger sojourned with thee in your land, you shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. Or you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I'm the Lord your God.

[John Weaver] Now let me just stop there. God says we're to love strangers as ourselves. There's to be one Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, does that mean that I have to believe in interracial marriage? No. Does that believe I have to embrace the strangers in my bosom and bubble over and be sentimental and all teary eyed? No, it's not what that means at all. But let me tell you something. What it does mean is this. It means that you treat that stranger biblically regardless of who he is, regardless of where he is from, regardless of what color his skin is. You treat him biblically.

[John Weaver] Let me show you what is included. Let's read Leviticus 19, verse 33, 34 again. He said in verse 33, if a stranger sojourned with thee in your land, you shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. For you were strangers in the land of Egypt. I am the Lord your God."

[John Weaver] Now what does loving Him include? Here it is, you shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, in meat yard, in weight, or in measure. just balances, just weights, a just ephod, a just end shall you have. I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall you observe all my statutes and all my judgments. To do them, I am the Lord.

[John Weaver] Now, what is he saying? He is saying loving the stranger and having one Lord or one law toward the stranger includes dealing openly and honestly with them in economic matters. It does not have anything to do with feelings. Love is not feelings. Love is obedience. And you cannot honestly say that you're loving someone if you're dealing falsely and fraudulently and deceitfully with them. See, Deuteronomy 10, 19, God repeats this command. He says, love you, therefore, the stranger. Why?

[John Weaver] For you were strangers in Egypt. Now, please remember this. We've got to remember that according to the Bible, Love is not feelings. Love is obedience. That's why Romans 13, verse 10, the Bible says, for love is the fulfilling of the law. How do I love a stranger? How do I love a neighbor? By acting biblically and scripturally and fulfilling God's law toward them. Nowhere in the Bible does God command me to have feelings for strangers. Nowhere in the Bible does God command me to embrace strangers in sentimental and emotional expressions of love. But what God does require me to do is to act biblically toward anyone and everyone.

[John Weaver] Now, look in your Bibles, 1 John 5, I've pointed this out in time past, but in light of this context, I want you to see it clearly so that you can understand that love is the fulfillment of God's law. Verse John 5. Look at it, first of all, in verse 2. Verse John 5, verse 2. What does the scripture say? By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandment. Now, how do I know that I love Don? How do I know that I love Roy? How do I know that I love Margaret? How do I know that I love Henry? The answer is not by just bubbling over and having tears in my eyes and getting goose bumps and running up and down saying, oh, I love you, I love you. No, I know that I love them when I keep God's commandments toward them. I love Henry if I treat his wife properly, his children properly, and I treat him properly. By properly, I mean biblically.

[John Weaver] I mean scripturally. by not doing anything to Him that God forbids me to do. But obeying God and acting toward Him in the way that God tells me to act. Look in verse 3. For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not grievous. Now what is the love of God? The love of God is keeping His commandments. It's that simple. So what does God require me to do to prevent anarchy and a breakdown of society? It's just act biblically toward each other.

[John Weaver] Whether I know you or not, whether you're a stranger or not. The alternative to biblical law is either totalitarianism or anarchy. And sometimes those things can go together. There can be a period of anarchy before there's totalitarianism, or there can be totalitarianism that is overthrown and it results in anarchy. But either way, it's the judgment of God for disobedience in forsaking his law. You know what he said in Galatians 5 and verse 15?

[John Weaver] Let me just quote it. He said, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. Isn't that amazing? But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you again what has happened. Do you remember in the foundation of this country? We were a unified people. First of all, we were unified in religion, that is, we were Christians. There may have been different denominations but still all admitted and confessed to the deity of Jesus Christ and the inspiration of the Word of God. There may have been Presbyterians and Congregationalists and Baptists and Methodists, but we all believe the Bible and we all believe in Jesus Christ. So in the foundation of this country, we were unified in our Christianity. We were unified in our economics.

[John Weaver] We knew the truth about silver and gold. We were unified in our work ethic. We all believe that if man did not work, neither should he eat. We were all unified, even when it came to morality, we knew right and for wrong.

[John Weaver] Now, listen, folks, we were not perfect as a nation, but originally we did act as Christians and as a Christian nation as a whole. Today, we're totally fractured as a nation. We have left biblical Christianity. And consequently, we don't even know how to treat our neighbor. You know, I find it absolutely amazing that most people have trouble with their neighbors. Let me give you an illustration. I was right here in this town.

[John Weaver] And I stopped and filled my car up with gas. And there was a black man doing the same thing. And I finished just a heartbeat before him. And we were both walking as rapidly as we could to the door to get in. to pay for the gas so we could get on our way. I was just a half step ahead of him. And I saw the expression on his face.

[John Weaver] And I knew what he was thinking. That honky is going to beat me and get in there before I am and I'm going to have to wait. I could see it written all over him. You know what I did? I grabbed the door first. And when I did, I opened it and held it open for him. And I said, go right on in, sir. You know what the man did? He stopped.

[John Weaver] The expression on his face totally changed. A smile came and he looked at me and he said, thank you, sir. And then he walked in and I walked in. You understand what I'm talking about? I made it a point in my life to try to open doors for women at the post office or wherever I am, regardless of their color, regardless of their age. It's amazing how many people just simply cannot get along.

[John Weaver] And we have trouble with our neighbors because we criticize and whine and complain and we want them to treat us right, but we don't want to treat them right. The problem in this country is we've left the law of God. We've left our Christian heritage and we don't even know how to deal with each other. The social deterioration is obvious just in our churches. You look at how professing Christians cannot even get along. We fume, we fuss, we fight, we cuss, we divide, we run off preachers, we run off other people, we run off people we disagree with, we even run off some people we agree with. I know of one church named Harmony Baptist Church that had a split. And the group that broke off went right next door, bought some land, and built a new church building and named it New Harmony Baptist Church. The old harmony was not sufficient. You had to have a new harmony.

[John Weaver] Now, you understand what I'm saying. Whatever happened to Christian character, to Christian charity, patience, longsuffering, and forbearance? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Why is it we cannot get along as Christians? Is it because of God's judgment against us? You know. When I was first converted, that was many, many years ago. And I got in. To preaching, God called me to preach. It did not take me very long to be disillusioned. Because I look at this preacher and that preacher and I thought, you know, these are great men. And the next thing I know, they were fussing and fighting among themselves and condemning each other and criticizing each other. Lord, something is wrong. Now, let me tell you something.

[John Weaver] If somebody does wickedly and wrongly, according to the Bible, that's one thing. But if it's my pride and my ignorance and my lack of grace that causes me not to get along with someone, that's my sin. You know, it's one thing to be divided for the sake of truth. It's quite another thing to be divided and suffer division because of our own sins. And I'm afraid that most of our division in this country, in our churches, in our neighborhoods, in our state, is mainly because of our own sins and not over truth and not over righteousness.

[John Weaver] When God will destroy a nation, he will not only judge them religiously, he will also judge them socially. A few years back, a man by the name of Thomas Chittum wrote a book. The book is entitled Civil War II. Thomas Chittum was a sniper in Vietnam. I think an engineer. He lived in New Jersey. And some of you may have read this book. But what Thomas Chittum does is basically this. He predicts. There is going to be a huge civil war in this country based upon racial distinctions. He even graphs the areas in which certain ethnic groups will have control, or certain races will have control, and he does so based upon demographics.

[John Weaver] And he says if you live in this area, when you see this, this, and this, and this happening, you better be moving. You better be getting out of there. because he shows you the ethnic group that basically controls everything in every area of the country.

[John Weaver] Now, let me tell you something, whether he is right or not, I know not. But I know this. One thing for sure, the only thing that's holding this country together is the grace of God. And if God restrains his grace, If God withdraws his restraining hand, then we will be as divisive and as destroyed as the Egyptian nation in Isaiah chapter 19. One of my favorite verses, and you've heard me quote it innumerable times, is Proverbs 8 and verse 36.

[John Weaver] Here our Lord, who is wisdom personified, said this. He that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death." Did you hear that? All they that hate me love death. In our society, where we are breaking our necks to be politically correct, In our society where we're doing everything to welcome every cult, ism and schism under the sun? In our society where we're willing to be everything but Christian and everything but obedient? In our society where we are exercising and exemplifying our hatred toward Christ and toward His law? We're expressing a love for death. All fallen man can do, apart from Christ and His Word, is produce a society of death.

[John Weaver] Before I finish this short series, I'm going to give you five ways that God destroys nations. I've showed you that God destroys them religiously last week. This how God will destroy us socially. But what I want you to note is there is a domino effect. When God sends one judgment, it falls in every other area and affects every area of life. And God's judgment will be evidenced in every sphere.

[John Weaver] We need to ask ourselves, Why are we so divided? Is it because of God's righteous judgment against our society? Because we, as a whole, have forsaken His Word and rejected His Son. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful today for Jesus Christ. And Lord, we must admit and confess we are in a mess in this country. We're in a mess religiously and socially, Lord. We're fractured. Divided. Broken. And in trouble.

[John Weaver] And unless your healing hand of grace and mercy comes upon us, unless you grant an opening of our eyes and reviving, and unless you give us repentance, we too shall go the way of other nations in destruction. Give us grace, Lord, that we may serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear, and may each of us determine in our lives that we're going to do what's right. regardless of what anyone else does. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.