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So the title of my sermon tonight is Natural Disasters as Judgment from God. Natural Disasters as Judgment from God. If you look down at your Bible there in 2 Chronicles 7 verse 13, the Bible reads, If I shut up heaven, that there be no rain. Or if I command the locusts to devour the land. Or if I send pestilence among my people, if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. And this is just one of many scriptures throughout the Bible where God talks about manipulating nature or natural forces or bringing natural disasters as a punishment. In this particular scripture he talks about shutting up heaven that it won't rain. So that would be a drought or a famine that he would send. He also talks about moving swarms of locusts to come upon the land. He also talks about pestilence or disease coming upon the land. Now I made a list of natural disasters that I could think of. I came up with earthquakes, volcanoes erupting, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, locusts, a tidal wave, epidemics, droughts, famines, hailstones, blizzards, avalanches. I mean these are all natural disasters and throughout the Bible God talks about using natural disasters to bring his judgment or to bring a punishment upon people. Now look all the way back to Genesis we have the flood with Noah which is the greatest natural disaster of all time when the earth is flooded. And then when we end up in Revelation we find that it's filled with natural disasters. I mean all throughout the book of Revelation we have what? Earthquakes, fires, hailstones. We have just all of these disasters of waters being contaminated and poisoned and just locusts and think about Exodus with the plagues of Egypt. We've got flies, boils, locusts, darkness, all these different things. This is a major theme throughout the Bible. In Leviticus and Deuteronomy God threatens this over and over again how he's going to send these different judgments and a lot of the time God will use natural disasters as a punishment or a judgment from God. You know even Sodom and Gomorrah obviously the Bible says that God rained fire and brimstone from heaven but it's possible that that could have been a natural disaster it could have been a volcano or something that God used in order to bring that judgment. But if you think about in the New Testament there was a city called Pompeii in the first century A.D. and if you know anything about Pompeii it was one of the most godless wicked perverted cities in the history of mankind. It was like a Sodom and Gomorrah of its day. They had a museum in Phoenix, Arizona that had a Pompeii exhibit and we had a homeschool group that went to that museum and they were specifically told hey don't go in this Pompeii exhibit without you know parental guidance or because it's too obscene it's too perverted you don't want to bring children in and just let them see this Pompeii exhibit because it was so pornographic and perverted that even the archaeology is something that you don't even want to look at because it was just a Sodom and Gomorrah type wicked perverted place. Do you really think it's an accident that God allowed a volcano to erupt and wipe out the city of Pompeii in the first century A.D. and all these people in this exhibit they're all frozen in time and because the lava just came in and killed them all instantly so scholars and archaeologists are fascinated by it because we can see these people living their everyday life because they're just frozen because they got nailed with this volcano so fast that you know all the stuff was preserved in the lava or what have you. So that goes to show you that God didn't just wipe people out in the Old Testament he wiped some people out in the New Testament because last time I checked A.D. in the year of our Lord that Pompeii was after Jesus died on the cross and was buried and rose again and you say well that's just a coincidence really that this perverted wicked city a volcano erupted and buried it and wiped it out. No that was the judgment of God on Pompeii and since then there have been a lot of other cities and other places that have experienced natural disasters as the judgment of God. It's something that God said he's going to do in the Bible. It's something that he's done throughout history. He punishes people with natural disasters. I mean certainly natural disasters aren't a blessing. It's not a blessing when you experience a drought or when you experience a famine or when you experience hurricanes that devastate and destroy a region and you know I've noticed also that some of the most wicked places tend to have a lot of natural disasters and I don't believe that's a coincidence either. It's God punishing those places. Now one natural disaster that I want to speak about specifically that happened pretty recently that was pretty impressive in its proportions I've already got one thanks and it was one that was of truly biblical proportions were the recent wildfires in California that happened a few months back. Who saw some of the images or pictures video from that incident? I mean it was pretty amazing and you know pictures worth a thousand words so I'd encourage you if you haven't seen those images after you hear the sermon tonight go and look at those pictures and videos because it's crazy. I mean people are driving down the road and just both sides of the road are just engulfed in flames and they're trying to escape from the city and they can feel the heat as they drive through it and there's smoke and fire and many of those people died. They couldn't get out. I think 86 people died and the geographic area I'm talking about is a town called Paradise California, ironically. It went from Paradiso to Inferno in a short amount of time but basically this city Paradise California, Northern California was hit by this forest fire and a lot of other places were affected as well but there were forest fires going on down in Southern California that destroyed a lot of the celebrities homes and I think Miley Cyrus had one of her homes destroyed and Bruce Jenner's home got destroyed and you know a bunch of Hollywood degenerates down there but then also up in Northern California this town of Paradise was wiped out by wildfires and this town had 25,000 people in it so it was a pretty good sized town and 90% of the town was burned down. Now I don't know about you but 25,000 that's a big town. You know I looked up some towns around here to kind of help you get a grasp of this but there's a town nearby called Alvin, right? You guys are familiar with that? You live in Alvin or you know the Alvin Texas? Well it's about the same size so just imagine Alvin just burning to the ground and 90% of the structures in Alvin are burned to the ground and you'll get an idea of the devastation of this town that was wiped out. And then I know we have a visitor from Brownsville so there you are. So I looked up a town near you and it is San Benito. You familiar with that? So if you imagine San Benito just completely burning down that is the size town or also Lake Jackson is another place that has about 25,000 people you know because I'm thinking about towns in Arizona that have 12, 13,000, 15,000 people and they're pretty good sized towns you know you double that and you get an idea that this town was a big town, Paradise just wiped out, burned to the ground. And when you look at the images and the video of this town on fire you know you can't help if you're a Bible believing Christian but to think about the book of Revelation. You know when God's going to be burning everything up and punishing it kind of gives you like a little sneak preview or a glimpse of what that would actually look like in real life and it's pretty sobering when you think about that and when you see that. Now let's go to Isaiah chapter 9. I did a search in the Bible just for these two words, forest fire. You know I just searched the Bible for those two terms forest and fire and a lot of really interesting scriptures came up. Now you say well Pastor Anderson are you saying that you know those forest fires in California the judgment of God? Absolutely. Yes I am saying that. Now you say well are you just down on California you think California is the most wicked state? Look I believe our whole nation is wicked. Our whole nation is being de-Christianized every year it's less Christian than it was the year before. Every year it's getting further away from God. The laws are getting more ungodly. Our leaders are taking us in an atheistic Christ hating direction and look there are other countries that are less Christian than the United States but God tends to punish people more when they once were Christian and they depart from the God of the Bible. Why? Because unto whom much is given of him shall much be required. And the people of the United States of America traditionally have been a Christian nation or a Christian people so when they get away from that obviously God is going to punish. Our country today is involved in a lot of wickedness think about all the abortion think about the sodomites and think about just the de-Christianization where we're turning away from Christ turning away from the Lord teaching people atheism and evolution and all these different things to deny the God of the Bible. And obviously California is a leader in our nation I mean it's the most populated state and it sets the trend for the rest of the nation in many ways I mean what the government in California does ends up being a model for the rest of the nation of the TV the movies they're being produced where in Hollywood in Los Angeles California so it ends up setting a trend for the rest of the nation and shortly before this fire happened they had an election in California and they voted in some of the worst scum and degenerate leaders that you can imagine and the most pro-sodomite leaders that they've ever had so look California is involved in a lot of wickedness it shouldn't really come as a surprise that God would send them the worst wildfires in the history of the state I mean these fires were the most devastating fires in the history of that state and they did more damage and killed people and wiped out an entire town look when you see an entire town being completely wiped out ninety percent of the structures burned to the ground in a town of twenty five thousand people that's a big deal folks that's a major judgment that's going on so let's just kind of look at the Bible here some of the scriptures that I found on on forest fires look at Isaiah chapter nine verse eighteen the Bible says for wickedness burneth as the fire it shall devour the briars and thorns and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest and they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke through the wrath of the Lord of hosts is the land darkened and the people shall be as fuel of the fire no man shall spare his brother now when the Bible talks about the land being darkened it's talking about how the smoke goes up in the sky and just creates total darkness as the land is on fire and the the forests are kindled and God's wrath burns through an area go to Jeremiah chapter twenty one Jeremiah chapter number twenty one I'll start reading it while you get there in verse eleven Jeremiah twenty one and touching the house of the king of Judah say hear ye the word of the Lord O house of David thus saith the Lord execute judgment in the morning and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor were in verse twelve of chapter twenty one lest my fury go out like fire and burn that none can quench it because of the evil of your doings behold I'm against thee O inhabitant of the valley and rock of the plains saith the Lord which say who shall come down against us or who shall enter into our habitations but I will punish you according to the fruit of your doing saith the Lord and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof and it shall devour all things round about now did God say here that he's going to kindle a forest fire he says look I'm going to punish you and the way I'm going to do that is I'm going to kindle a forest fire if he's done it before he'll do it again amen that's Jeremiah twenty one fourteen flip over to Ezekiel chapter fifteen Ezekiel chapter fifteen while you're turning there I'll read for you from Lamentations four verse eleven the Lord hath accomplished his fury he hath poured out his fierce anger and have kindled a fire in Zion and it hath devoured the foundations thereof look at Ezekiel fifteen verse six therefore thus saith the Lord God as the vine tree among the trees of the forest which I have given to the fire for fuel so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem and I will set my face against them they shall go out from one fire and another fire shall devour them and ye shall know that I am the Lord when I set my face against them and I will make the land desolate because they have committed a trespass saith the Lord God look at chapter twenty of Ezekiel Ezekiel chapter twenty verse forty five the Bible reads moreover the word of the Lord came unto me saying son of man set thy face toward the south and drop thy word toward the south and prophesy against the forest of the south field and say to the forest of the south hear the word of the Lord thus saith the Lord God behold I will kindle a fire in thee and it shall devour every green tree in thee and every dry tree the flaming fire shall not be quenched and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein and all flesh shall see that I the Lord have kindled it it shall not be quenched then said I oh Lord God they say of me does he not speak in parables what what is he saying here people think it's figurative isn't that what he's saying I mean God's telling him look Ezekiel you got to preach and tell these people I am going to light that forest on fire I'm gonna burn it up and you guys are gonna burn up he says but God they think it's just a figurative fire and boy haven't we heard those kind of preachers today who say oh the fire in hell that just means that you you you're longing for God isn't that what they say oh when the guy's begging for a drink of water it's just he's thirsting for the presence of God no he's begging for a drink of water he's on fire I mean the Bible talks about people burning in hell today and they think it's all figurative right and God when he talks about sending these physical judgments because this isn't about hell this passage is about a literal forest fire and Ezekiel complains to God and says God I keep preaching this stuff I keep preaching how you're gonna light this place on fire I keep preaching how you're gonna burn it up and they think it's a parable they think I'm preaching in parables do you see that there in chapter 20 verse 49 why can't they believe that God would do these things look he's done them before and he'll do them again go to Numbers chapter 11 Numbers chapter 11 now here's the thing about it you say well pastor Anderson why doesn't God wipe out every wicked city with fire I mean why isn't the whole nation on fire then right that's what some people will say you know why would God just torch that one city Paradise California or why would God just light these fires in certain parts of California and why didn't he burn down the whole place or something because they think that God has to treat everybody equally like you know anybody who sins has to get wiped out equally that's not the way it works folks there were 23,000 people killed for fornication in one day but does that mean that every time somebody commits fornication he just kills them oh you committed fornication you die immediately well that would end fornication pretty fast anytime somebody fornicates they just fall over dead is that what happens folks no but does that change the fact that God killed 23,000 people in one day because of fornication yes he did that what about Ananias and Sapphira you know they ended up lying and and and and and stealing in a sense by claiming that they gave all the money when they didn't and they lied to the Holy Ghost and they fell over dead does that mean that every single time somebody lies to the Holy Ghost they're just gonna fall over dead does that mean any time somebody comes to church and lies about the offering they're gonna fall over dead no God made an example of those certain people okay just like he made an example with the 23,000 just like he will send natural disasters on certain people certain cities certain areas places like Sodom places like Pompeii and just other cities in Judah and different places throughout history look God made an example out of Egypt there were other wicked countries at that time there were other wicked pagans and sinful societies you think Egypt was the only wicked country at that time on this earth no there were all kinds of other ungodly idol worshiping pagans but God chose to use Pharaoh and the people of Egypt as an example okay the wise person when they see God punish a town or punish a state or punish a city or punish a nation you know what they do they say I could be next we could be next Wow God has punished these people they don't sit there and say well he didn't punish everybody every time so I think it's just a coincidence folks it's not a coincidence when you're wicked and your town burns down that's not a coincidence when you're wicked and it doesn't rain for years and there's a drought that's not a coincidence God controls these things friend God has the power to send these judgments or to bless on the other hand he can either bless or curse you know I don't think it's a coincidence that South Africa and Botswana have been under the judgment of God the same places that did what threw us out when we were just coming to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ we were just coming to bring the Romans Road and to bring the plan of salvation and to go and talk to people in the highways and hedges compelling them to be saved compelling them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you know what we were thrown out we were arrested we were deported a whole bunch of our church members and everything I'm banned from South Africa I'm banned from Botswana I wonder if it's a coincidence that Botswana was in a severe drought for years thereafter I wonder if it's a coincidence that South Africa today is cursed and is not prospering and is not being blessed and all you just hear is bad news out of South Africa and you hear about the president of Botswana saying hey we need to pray that it rains because it's not raining and we need it to rain well I bet that's all just a coincidence though right well they've had droughts before yeah they've been wicked before look God can open the heaven and send rain God can bless people God can help them or if you turn away from the preaching of God's Word if you throw out the missionaries and persecute God's people don't be surprised when God doesn't bless you how can South Africa and Botswana be blessed when they reject the Word of God and kick out the prophets that are sent unto them to preach to them they're not gonna get a blessing like that are they that's not a coincidence folks and you know what there have been problems in the United States today of with locusts and things like that of course now we have modern-day insecticides so when God sends a plague of locusts they just pretty much nuke the locusts with all their chemicals and insecticides and that has happened throughout the last few decades and you say well you know we're smarter than God because we killed all the bugs that he sent to punish us well yeah except now you get to eat all those chemicals and ingest all those chemicals and breathe all those chemicals that they had to use on all the locusts that God sent so you're still getting punished folks you're still not being blessed by God when he sends a bunch of pests to eat up the crops and then they have to just spray the fire out of them with more chemicals and more junk that's not helping you that's not good for your body is it no look the path to God's blessing is through the door of obedience and God sends punishments on people who don't love him and reject him and do wrong so I don't sit back and say when a natural disaster happens that it's a coincidence you know what I say is hey God is sending his punishment and we need to wise up we need to purify ourselves we need to cleanse ourselves you say was it always a punishment no because you know I'll say this if people were righteous and something bad happened then I'll say it's not a punishment I mean to me this doesn't seem complicated if people are serving God loving God obeying God and something bad happens then I'm gonna say it's not the punishment of God but when people are wicked and people have turned away from the Lord and when people are filled with sin and iniquity and bad things happen it's a punishment from God and you say well you know how do I know if I'm being punished by God are you doing bad things then it's a punishment from God say what about job job was a good guy see the problem with job's three friends is that job's three friends accused him of doing wrong when he hadn't done anything wrong because bad things happen to job and his friends said well you must be a bad guy for these bad things happen is that what we're doing with this wildfire are we saying well you know California you look godly you look righteous California you look like you love and worship the Lord but because you had a wildfire you must have been a wicked sinner is that what we're doing no what we're doing is looking at people that are obviously sinful obviously wicked obviously thumbing their nose at God and blaspheming God and hating God more than they ever have in the history of our country and then a wildfire comes and say that's the judgment of God isn't that a little bit different than job news flash California is not job news flash job doesn't live in Paradise California okay now are there good people in California of course there are amen there are righteous people in California look there are righteous people in every country in the world doesn't the Bible teach us that there's a righteous remnant in every country in the world doesn't the Bible say when we get to heaven there are gonna be saved people from every country every kindred every tongue every family let me ask something South Africa one of the most wicked countries in the world are there good righteous people who live there yes I know them personally I know some godly people in South Africa who love the Lord and their soul winners and they're going to church and they read their Bible but does that prevent God from judging South Africa look if good people living there prevents God from judging a nation then God could never judge any nation ever if you say well what about the nice people who live there okay well then God can never punish any country so if you're gonna take that logic you're basically saying that God never will punish any country ever because there's too many nice people there look if Tempe Arizona started burning down tomorrow I'll be the first to say it's the judgment of God on Tempe if Tempe starts to burn down tomorrow I will stand up and I'll be the number one first person to get up and say God is judging Tempe Arizona and it would make perfect sense if God would send a disaster like that look if a giant sinkhole opened up and parts of Tempe just started dropping into the abyss I would sit there and say you know what that's because we have knocked these doors and preach the gospel it's been one of the most unreceptive towns in the whole state of Arizona Tempe has been some of the worst soul winning we've ever done and that's why God's punishing Tempe because here they have this church among them faithful word Baptist Church preaching the Word of God knocking the doors screaming it from the housetops and they're still wicked they're refusing to get right that's why God's punishing them that's I'd be the first person to say that if God sent some judgment upon Scottsdale Arizona Mesa Arizona Chandler Arizona I'd be the first one to declare it the judgment of God you know why because I see the wickedness of Chandler I see the wickedness of Scottsdale I see the wickedness of Mesa and the more Bible preaching they have the more guilty they are for not responding to it amen and I wouldn't sit there and say well God can't be judging Tempe because I live there I live there God how dare you judge Tempe is that what the men of the Bible said you know God talked about being so mad at a nation he said I don't care if Daniel Nola and Job all lived there and they all prayed for me not to judge it I judge it anyway you remember that part of the Bible it gets to a point where God's gonna bring his judgment God's gonna bring his breath look God judged Judah while Jeremiah was living in it God judged all kinds of nations and guess what good people suffer when a nation gets judged I mean if God started to judge the United States and started to judge Arizona and Texas guess what we would all suffer I mean it wouldn't it wouldn't be nice for us would it so this logic that says well good people live there therefore God's never gonna judge it well then God's never gonna judge any country because there's good people living in every country in the world everybody understand what I'm saying I mean it says that logic falls apart friend look at Numbers chapter 11 Numbers chapter 11 verse 1 says and when the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled and the fire of the Lord burned among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp and the people cried unto Moses and when Moses prayed unto the Lord the fire was quenched and he called the name of the place Tabura because the fire of the Lord burnt among them flip over to the book of Amos Amos chapter 1 while you're turning there I'll read for you from Deuteronomy 32 22 for a fire is kindled in mine anger and shall burn unto the lowest hell and shall consume the earth with her increase the increase is talking about the the farming you know where they grow plants and grow crops he said I the earth with her increase is going to be consumed and and he says he's gonna set on fire the foundations of the mountains I will heap mischiefs upon them I will spend mine arrows upon them they shall be burnt with hunger and devoured with burning heat and with bitter destruction I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them with the poison of serpents of the dust the sword without and terror within shall destroy both the young man and the virgin the suckling also with the man of gray hairs God is a god of wrath and judgment and vengeance he sends fire he sends famines he sends flood he sends locusts he sends warfare he sends foreign invaders God is not mocked and when you live a wicked life and when a state becomes a wicked state or a city becomes a wicked city or a country becomes a wicked country even if there are good people in it they are going to reap the whirlwind you say well what about Sodom and Gomorrah I mean you know there's a good guy living there so God wouldn't judge it wrong Abraham had to pray and intercede for Lot in order for Lot to be spared I mean if Abraham hadn't interceded for Lot what if the angels and the Lord would have just come to Abraham and said hey we're gonna destroy Sodom and Abraham just said good man torch that place nuts to it serves my nephew lot right for living in that filthy place well then you know what God would have done just torch the place look Abraham had to beg God and pray and intercede Abraham was a major prayer warrior he's a friend of God so he had a lot of clout with God right the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so Abraham is this very righteous man Abraham is the friend of God and he intercedes and he didn't stop God from destroying Sodom God destroyed Sodom anyway and he was trying to talk him out of it he said hey what if there are 50 people in the city then you won't destroy it right yeah okay what about 45 what about 40 what about 30 what about 20 okay God don't get mad at me one last thing what if there are 10 righteous people will you spare the city for 10 righteous and he said I will spare the city for 10 righteous did he spare the city no he wiped it out friend now what if they would have just agreed on 50 and there would have been 49 well then he could still wipe it out even with 49 righteous people in it friend but what God did do because of Abraham's prayer is that he got lot out so God will often answer our prayers but not in the way that we pray it so Abraham prayed and he said okay God please spare the city for lot's sake is basically what he's praying but did God do that no but God answered his prayer in a different way by God said well I'm not gonna spare the city but I'll get lot out but you know what lot didn't get pulled out just because that was automatically gonna happen no he got pulled out because Abraham prayed for him so yeah of course we can pray during a catastrophe during a disaster let's say there are great earthquakes happening or flooding happening or fires happening or hurricanes happening you know what we should be praying is that the righteous will not be destroyed along with the wicked you know we can pray for our loved ones and pray and even just pray for people that we don't even know just say Lord spare your people spare the righteous spare the godly people spare the Christians and you know God can get those people out and God can get them through it you know God took care of Jeremiah God took care of Ezekiel God took care of Daniel right even when everyone around them is being judged God can allow you and me and other people to survive right but is God just not gonna bring the judgment no he'll bring the judgment friend it doesn't matter if there are good people there God will still bring the judgment God has brought a lot worse judgments on a lot of places where there were a lot of good people there were a lot of good people in Judah he still wiped out Judah okay so that's just the way it works I mean look at the nation of Judea in the time of Jesus Christ they didn't all reject Jesus I mean there were a lot of people who got saved right but did that stop the entire nation of Judea from getting wiped out in 70 AD and then again in 135 AD no they got wiped out friend now good people can often be spared and escape as individuals but the nation got judged okay now look at Amos this is you know we're talking what are we talking about tonight what's the title of the sermon the title of the sermon is natural disasters as judgment from God and we're using a case study of a particular natural disaster forest fires that devastated Southern California and Northern California okay so we're kind of emphasizing scriptures on fire because look if I were to just go through all the natural disasters that God threatened in the Bible or all the natural disasters that God actually brought we'd be here all night I'm just focusing in on the forest fires I'm just focusing in on fire as a judgment from God look at Amos chapter 1 and I'm just gonna hit some highlights in the first couple chapters of Amos here but he lists a bunch of cities that he's gonna burn up look at Amos chapter 1 verse 4 but I will send a fire into the house of Hazael which shall devour the palaces of Ben-Hadad now Hazael and Ben-Hadad are two leaders of Syria the city being referred to as the city of Damascus in verse 3 it mentions that it's Damascus that's gonna get burned up look at verse 7 but I will send a fire on the wall of Gaza that's another city which shall devour the palaces thereof verse 10 but I will send a fire on the wall of Tyrus that's another city which shall devour the palaces thereof chapter 1 verse 12 but I will send a fire upon Timan which shall devour the palaces of Basra look at verse 14 but I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabah and it shall devour the palaces thereof with shouting in the day of battle with a tempest in the day of the whirlwind chapter 2 verse 2 but I will send a fire upon Moab and it shall devour the palaces of Kiriath and Moab shall die with tumult with shouting with the sound of the trumpet look at chapter 2 verse 5 but I will send a fire upon Judah and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem so for sake of time we didn't read the whole chapters but chapters 1 and 2 of Amos described God bringing wrath upon these various cities Damascus Gaza Tyre Basra Rabah Kiriath in Jerusalem he says I'm gonna burn these places up I'm gonna set a fire in them and burn them up burn them to the ground now with that in mind let's go into chapter 3 okay because that's the subject matter of chapters 1 & 2 let's get into chapter 3 verse 1 hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you Oh children of Israel against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt saying you only have I known of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities what's he saying look because I've known you that's why I'm gonna punish you well let me ask you this is there a country in modern times that God has known more than the United States of America I mean is there a country in modern times that has been more Christian than the USA no the USA has been a Christian nation that has sent more missionaries out than any country in the history of mankind okay now I'm not saying that the US was ever you know predominantly saved or that most people were saved or that it was ever this super godly righteous Eden but I am saying this that as far as countries go it historically this has been one of the most Christian places one of the places with the most Bibles and the most Bible preaching and the most missionaries being sent to reach the world the USA has been a place that God has had a special relationship with in modern times I think that's pretty obvious to most people that we've been a godly influence in the past okay and so he says well that's why I'm gonna punish you you know you guys should know better you know it wouldn't really surprise us if you know communist China or Hindu India or Buddhist Japan or you know these other places that are Muslim countries it shouldn't really surprise us if they're ungodly right but what about a nation that's had the King James Bible in every drugstore and every Walmart and every Dollar Tree and has had the Bible going forth on TV and the radio churches on every corner soul-winning Christians knocking doors for generations with the Romans Road and trying to get people look that's a country that should know better the United States should know better today we're not deep into Hindu India today we're not deep into the jungles of some place in Africa today or Polynesia today we're not deep steeped in ancestor worship in Japan today you know this is America we are supposed to know the God of the Bible here okay everybody knows who Jesus Christ is in this country everybody can practically quote John 3 16 in this country we are without excuse today in America so that's what he says here in Amos chapter 3 verse 2 therefore I'll punish you for all your iniquities and then he gets into this series of questions let's look at these questions and I'm going to give you a little hint the answer to all these questions is no okay can to walk together except they be agreed no will a lion roar in the forest when he hath no prey no will a young lion cry out of his then if he had taken nothing no can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth where no gene is for him no shall one take up a snare from the earth and have taken nothing at all no I mean is it obvious that the answer these questions is no obviously I'm adding the word no but it's a rhetorical question and we all know the answer to these things is no shall a trumpet be blown in the city and the people not be afraid no if a Trump it's blowing the city people are gonna be afraid and then look at the final question and and when we have lists in the Bible usually it culminates with the most important one here's the final most important question you ready for this here's the big important question what's been the answer of everything up to this point an obvious no and then we get to the important question shall there be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it well yes yeah I think so yeah hold on a second he just no no no no no no no is there an evil in the city and the Lord has not done it the answer is no because if there is an evil done in the city the Lord has done it what does evil mean evil doesn't mean sin a lot of people get mixed up when they think of evil they think of witches and sorcerers and stuff the word evil what it actually means in the Bible is it means to hurt or to harm to do evil to someone is to hurt them or to harm them so the Bible talks about the Lord doing evil obviously the Lord can't sin obviously the Lord's not involved in in the dark arts okay the Lord does evil because the Lord harms or destroys so what's the Bible saying is there an evil in the city and the Lord had not done it now what did we just read about the last two chapters a fire in Damascus a fire in Gaza a fire in Tyrus a fire in Basra a fire in Rabah a fire in Kiriath and a fire in Jerusalem we've got these seven great fires that took place in seven great cities then we have these questions can two walk together you know except they be agreed is the lion going to run forth the young lion the bird the snare the trumpet and and look what's he saying I did all that you know when Damascus burns down don't say that it wasn't me because it was me when Kiriath burns down don't say that wasn't me that was me when Gaza is on fire you better know that if there's an evil in the city then the Lord has done it because you know what God can bless a city or he can curse a city he can protect the city or he can burn it down and it's up to him he holds the power to crush any of us at any moment he could right now God could just go like this and literally you won't be able to breathe Daniel told the king that he said your breath is in God's hand God could literally just go like this and you can't breathe anymore God could literally just snap his fingers and start fires flood earthquake hurricane you say well why doesn't he do it all the time because he's long-suffering because he's not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance that's why but he does it sometimes and sometimes he sends these little warning shots these little warning shots across the bow just a little taste just a little appetizer just a little show of force to let you know hey listen you better get right you better wake up and see the person who loves the Lord and reads the Bible they connect what they read in the Bible with what they see and say you know okay this city's on fire California is thumbing their nose at God the United States is is blaspheming God and it's all burning down and they're gonna be like this is God you say well I don't think so well is there an evil in the city and the Lord had not done it do cities here's a good question do cities burn it to a crisp 100% burned up or 90% burned up to where the city is just torched and God hasn't done it according to the book of Amos I would say no I mean anytime an entire city just burns to the ground I'm gonna have to say yeah that was God if a city just gets nuked if a city just gets wiped out of city gets flooded if a city just breaks off and sinks into the sea God did that God has power over these forces of nature and so I think it's pretty clear when you study the Bible on this subject now here's the objection that people would bring up and if you would go to Luke chapter number 13 because when I first heard about these fires in California there were two scriptures that just immediately popped into my mind okay because you know when you when you read the Bible when you when you go to church you've got the Word of God in your heart you got it in your mind and so when situations happen verses will pop into your head right oh yeah this is like that one part in the Bible oh yeah you know this is oh yeah this is like that story of Sheba the son of big cry or whatever you know just different situations spring different Bible stories into your mind right so when I saw these wildfires there were two scriptures that just popped into my mind and it was funny because I talked to other friends of mine and other Christians and they said some of the same things to me like even before I said it they're like Luke chapter 13 you know Luke chapter 13 was the one that popped into my mind the first thing that popped in my mind was Amos all those cities he's gonna burn and is there an evil in the city and the Lord had not done it like don't that's the first thing that came to mind the second thing that popped into my mind a moment later was this scripture in Luke chapter 13 because one of the objections that people will sometimes bring up is they'll say well okay but paradise California is not the most wicked city in California so why would God have torched this city paradise when there's other worst places I mean come on if the fire would have been in San Francisco California then I'd agree with you you know but it wasn't it was in paradise California and you know that just doesn't make any sense well here's the thing about that the Bible addresses that in Luke 13 but let me stop and say this paradise California is not exactly a godly place anyway okay now is San Francisco worse of course but here's the thing this judgment of these wildfires in Northern California it affected San Francisco and it affected Sacramento because I'm from Sacramento so Sacramento is where my family lives where a lot of my friends live because I'm from there and you know what they were all telling me is that the air quality was so bad because the smoke of these fires in Northern California ended up just filling Sacramento and San Francisco with smoke it was the worst air quality that they've ever had in the history of these cities the worst you know and I don't I don't remember what the the figures are and I don't really necessarily understand the measurements of you know the quality index but I think it was like 300 and some and and you know the highest it had been was much lower than that or I don't even know 300 what I don't know but it was like the safe level is like under a hundred and they're at like 350 or so but it was so bad that they're telling people like don't even go outside people in San Francisco and Sacramento are being told don't even leave the house you know Verity Baptist Church our friend pastor Roger Jimenez in Sacramento California they had to cancel soul winning for like a whole week or something because they weren't supposed to be going outside in this and that you know for their health they had to stay indoors they had to cancel so winning for a week and I would have done the same thing I mean if it's hazardous to even go outside and breathe these foods they said that going outside in San Francisco during this time I read an article that said it was like smoking an entire pack of cigarettes just to be outside that day and my first thought was wow and there's some people who pay money to do that every day but it was like the air quality was so bad it was like it was like smoking through a whole pack just to just to be there so people are coughing and choking and hacking and and you say well you know God's just so mean well you know what that's what God does he sends fires he sends earthquakes he sends flood and you know you say well good people are coughing look I know a lot of good people that were coughing that doesn't change the fact that God sends punishments and judgments that affect the good and the bad okay and and so you know it was a bad time for everybody in that area okay but guess what I could show you just example after example in the Bible where it was a bad time for everybody living in Judah or everybody living in Egypt or Israel where good people suffered as a result of the bad people you know bad people sin and they hurt everyone around them right I mean bad people sin and they hurt everybody around them I mean think about like people will say oh what about these good people who get AIDS you know through a blood transfusion yeah because a bunch of sodomites went around and spread AIDS everywhere and then donated their contaminated blood and then you get it from a blood transfusion yeah that's a good person suffering because of the bad people around them folks when people around us sin it's gonna hurt everybody including us it's gonna hurt the good people and thank God for Verity Baptist Church thank God for that righteous church thank God for Pastor Roger Jimenez preaching hard against sin rebuking the sins of California winning souls in California you know and that church has a special place in my heart because they're in my hometown and look I'm not up here just to bash California or be against California let me tell you something our church has planted a church in California in Los Angeles and brother Bruce Mejia who I believe is gonna be preaching here next Sunday you know he's at the helm in that church in LA and it that church is winning souls and thriving look you can still do a great work for God in California and you know what my number one plan for church planting is to plant more church in California I mean California is a massive population you know but what is it like 40 million people or something and so look we want to plant churches in California we're doing a soul-winning marathon in California two weeks from now in Indio California we planted a church in in in Los Angeles God willing we're gonna plant churches in San Diego and Fresno and other parts of California I know that Pastor Jimenez feels the same way he wants to start churches in California but here's the thing yes Verity Baptist Church is a lighthouse in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation and you know what yes they are doing a great work for God but you know what it doesn't change the fact that California is going the way of the devil folks it's obvious but it's not just California Arizona is doing the same thing folks Arizona just elected a senator that's a sodomite we just sent a representative to the United States I just found this out like less than a week ago because I don't pay attention to politics so I'm a little late to find out about these things sometimes but I just found out that we just elected a literal sodomite to the United States Senate that's who Arizona has it so and these senators they have a six-year term so for the next six years a filthy sodomite is going to be representing the state of Arizona in the United States Senate and look I go all across America even in the Bible Belt today even Little Rock Arkansas sometimes can feel like a Sodom and Gomorrah when you go to Little Rock Arkansas or when you go to places that you would think of as conservative places folks look this country is getting wicked the cities are getting wicked the states are getting wicked and you know what God's gonna punish it and there's gonna be more natural disasters they're gonna be worse natural disasters and when they happen you know what I'm gonna do I'm gonna acknowledge them as the judgment of God and I'm gonna preach the fear of God and try to preach that people should repent of their wicked deeds before God just wipes out this country because that's what's coming folks whether people believe that or want to hear that or not that's the truth but you say why Paradise California I mean Paradise California it's not even that bad of a place people would say okay well I looked up some stats on Paradise California and the population is like 25,000 I looked up there what's the religion in Paradise California 66% none folks 66% of the people in Paradise California have no religion none and you know what that's the way our whole country's going ah there are a lot of cities in Arizona where if you looked up Tempe and places like that you'll get the same stat two-thirds none no religion that's pretty bad for something that used to be a nation that acknowledged you know used to be that when I'd go out so any I'd ask people hey are you a Christian and like 90% of people would say yes you know that there's some kind of denomination whether they're a Protestant or Catholic or evangelical or whatever at least 80 or 90 percent would at least claim the name of Christ in some way shape or form nowadays when I go soul winning in Tempe or Chandler Arizona it's like less than half of people saying yes to that now it's just no no no no and and I've noticed that it used to be that when people were not a Christian usually they would still be friendly and polite man it's getting to the point now where people they're not a Christian and they just like hate Christ like you go out so any I don't know I kind of heard some some talk before the service I guess you guys were in kind of an unreceptive area today so winning or did something go wrong or people were mad or what yeah just kind of angry shutting doors instead of just yeah and and you know used to be kind of like just no thanks and every once in a while you'd run into that angry person you know and cuss you out and slam the door but it was more of a rare incident it was more like most people just off no thanks nope or they'd say yes or you ask him are you a Christian 80 or 90 percent of people would say yes doesn't mean they necessarily have time to talk to you or want to talk to you but man it seems like now you go soul winning for an hour somebody's mad or five people are mad I mean it's people are just getting to and they're not even mad at you it's not even you you'll walk up and you haven't even said anything you just hi you know they're already mad you haven't even done anything just the moment you say I'm from church whoa man they you can tell their hatred is for the Lord it's for God it's for Jesus it's for the Bible boy it's folks it didn't used to be that way and I've only been so winning now for 20 years I've seen it change in the last 20 years you know you go back to the 1960s my grandpa went so any in the 1960s and he asked a lady one time are you a Christian and she said well I'm not a cannibal because she pretty much thought ever isn't everybody a Christian or else you're a cannibal she thought there's Christians and there's camp you know because our nation was so Christian like if somebody said they were an atheist that would kind of horrify people back then like what kind of a degenerate wicked immoral you have no religion nowadays two-thirds of people just have no religion no religion not the wrong religion just no religion two-thirds of Paradise California so sixty percent none fifteen and a half percent Catholic that's not worshipping the Lord that's idolatry okay ten point four percent were evangelical Protestant and in that group of evangelical Protestant you got the Nazarenes the Holiness the Assemblies of God and a couple Baptists in there and whatever the non-denom whatever the different people so look I'm sure that there are some good people that were in that town I'm sure there were some godly people in that town some Christian people in that town but you know what in general that town is a godless town if two-thirds of the people have no religion you got some false religion mixed in there it doesn't look good for them okay but look at Luke 13 because the objection is well I don't think the paradise is that bad I don't think it was that bad of a place why would God send his wrath on that particular city well look what the Bible says in Luke 13 verse 1 there were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices and Jesus answering said unto them suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish so there were some people that were Galileans who had been murdered by Pilate right so Pilate is the Roman governor and this Roman governor had murdered these Galileans he'd killed them now why did he do that why did God allow him to do that he said do you think it's because they were just the worst Galileans were they just worse than all the other Galileans so God allowed this bad thing to happen he said well no because if you don't repent you're all gonna perish in this you're all gonna die this same way the same stuff's gonna happen to you or those 18 so there's 18 people right or those 18 verse 4 upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them thank ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except you repent you shall all likewise perish so when you see the Roman governor pay attention to this folks this is an important scripture and a lot of people misunderstand the scripture the Roman governor murdered some Galileans and you know what Jesus is saying it's a warning because you know what if you don't repent you're gonna die the same way likewise Paris what does likewise mean the same way what does Paris mean die he's saying hey they got murdered by Pontius Pilate and if you don't repent you're gonna die the same way if you don't repent you shall all likewise perish and then he said oh what about those guys where a tower fell on them do you think that those were just the most wicked 18 people those were just the 18 most wicked people dwelling in Jerusalem no he said it's not that they were sinners any worse than the rest of people in Jerusalem but except you repent you shall all likewise perish now was Jesus just blowing smoke at them when he said that no because guess what happened to these exact people less than 40 years later you know what happened what happened the Romans came in and just killed thousands and thousands of them and all kinds of towers fell on all kinds of people's heads when they burned Jerusalem to the ground right the Romans came in and for seven years from AD 66 to AD 73 the Romans killed Jews and burned Jews and towers fell on Jews and Jews were slain with the sword why because they didn't repent Jesus came to them and warned them and said look I'm here I'm preaching to you I'm preaching the gospel to you and look you guys when you see these bad things happen when you see Pontius Pilate kill a handful of people beware you're next when you see a tower fall on 18 people hey it's not that those 18 people were the worst people ever it's that you're next it's a warning suppose ye and so we could add to this a modern day version of this and say hey suppose ye that those people dwelling in Paradise California were worse sinners than all them that dwell in California nay but except ye repent you shall all likewise perish that's the message to California today but it's not just a California because guess what California is not you know I look I'm sorry but you you and your Texas don't worry I'm not gonna mess with Texas okay but you know everybody just all Texas you know what Texas is not that different from California okay you can be all proud of Texas and you can wave your flag and remember the Alamo and whatever but let me tell you something Texas is not better than California you think that you're so godly because you're in the Bible Belt and you're in Texas and everybody's Baptist here whatever hey you and I both know that most of the so-called Baptist churches in Texas are apostate that's why there are people here tonight that drove hours to get here that's why people are driving an hour to church 45 minutes to church 30 minutes to church to our church you know what are there no Baptist churches in your town yeah there are but they've apostatized and you know what you can't you can sit there and say oh California is so wicked guess what so is Arizona guess what so is Texas it's our country folks it's not just one state it's the whole country it is the United States of America as a whole hey suppose ye that those fires burnt in California because they're worse sinners than the rest of the nation nope if America doesn't repent they'll all likewise perish hey look you guys most of you probably seen my film Babylon USA who's seen the film Babylon USA well what happens in Babylon USA the whole place gets torched right we were applying those prophecies from Revelation 18 and how was great Babylon judge with fire and so we were applying that to the United States we're applying that in that film to the USA Babylon USA let me tell you some the wildfires in California are a little taste of what's gonna happen when the United States goes up in flames someday when the United States is nuked someday folks that's the message here it's not that paradise is the worst in couple look and you say yeah but why would God do that why okay look isn't it funny how everybody always wants to know why God does everything that he does to me that's never been the most important question I was out soul winning the other day this guy said why does God do this why does God do this why does God do this and I just looked at this guy and I just said I don't care that's what he does whether you understand why or whether I understand why that's what God does well why does God send people to hell he does it well why does God you know save the people who believe in him that's what he does and you know we could sit around and try to figure out why and try to understand why but at the end of the day it doesn't matter why that's what God does but let me give you a pretty good reason why because if God wiped out let's say God instead he only wiped out Bruce Jenner and Miley Cyrus his houses and he left and he left paradise California alone because there were two fires burning at the same time there was a fire burning in southern who knows what I'm talking about you kind of followed this in the news a little bit yeah most people here followed this there was a fire going on in Southern California burning up the houses of celebrities and Hollywood degenerate types and then there was another fire that was burning in Northern California out in this wholesome town of Paradise California where two-thirds of people have zero religion okay but anyway these two fires are burning concurrently okay now let's say God only sent the fire just to you know just the Hollywood people and just the the scum and the degenerate types well you know what that message would send them that would send a message of well you have to be really bad for God to judge you you have to be really wicked but you know when God burns up a town like Paradise California you know what he's saying this is bad enough for me to light you up a town that we look at and think well this is a good town this is the right to sound it really really are they acknowledging Christ are they acknowledging the Lord are they worshipping the God of the Bible are they living according to God standards of right and wrong not and so God says oh you yeah of course you want to see Bruce Jenner's house go up in flames and Miley Cyrus house go in flames and I keep mentioning them because those are just the two that I remember that burned up their houses in this fire I'm sure there were more of course yeah we'd all love to see Haight-Ashbury go up in flames but you know what God's trying to show us is that you know what you don't have to be a sodomite to go up in flames you don't have to be a Hollywood scumbag to go up in flames you know what you just have to be ungodly in his sight and he has a different place where he draws line and what we consider godly is not godly I mean today we look at America today and we look at the Republicans and the Democrats and we pretty much say well yeah the Democrats are wicked I mean the Democrats I mean yeah they're for abortion or a bunch of commies and liberals and social but all the Republicans are so wonderful but is out God looks at America you think God looks at America and looks at this Fox News right wing Republican American Christianity you think he looks at that is pleased with that because I don't think so I think God is displeased with the Republicans and the Democrats I think God is displeased with the liberals and the conservatives because the conservatives today they don't follow the Bible they don't believe the Bible they don't preach the Bible and yeah they don't murder the unborn but they'll go murder people in other countries with the warfare state hello is anybody home they don't mind dropping bombs on civilians and killing women and children you know kill them all and let God sort them out is their motto folks when God looks down at the fat lazy dead churches in America today that think that they're so rich and have need of nothing and they don't know that they're poor and miserable and wretched and blind and naked hey God's not impressed today with Texan Baptist so-called Christianity God's not impressed today with the Church of Christ in Texas God's not impressed today with the so-called Bible belt God's not impressed with the Republican conservative talk radio crowd hey you know what God is not pleased with our nation oh we don't practice abortion but we'll pump our wife full of birth control pills that are abortifacient that practically work like a day after pill oh man you know yeah we don't you know we don't support the sodomites we don't want them to get married but we'll watch them on TV listen to their music tolerate them have them over for a barbecue invite them into our churches look folks God draws the line in a different place than we do about what constitutes a wicked city I believe that God looked down at Paradise California and saw that city as wicked in his sight now it's not as bad as Sodom and Gomorrah not as bad as Pompeii not as bad as San Francisco but you know what he looked down and he was not pleased with what he saw there and you know what if he was pleased with it then pray tell me why he burned it to the ground well I think that God was pleased with Paradise California really then why did he burn it down why did he burn it to a crisp well I don't think God did it really is there an evil in the city and the Lord has not done it I mean does God not have power over the force of nature because you know why that city burned to the ground because it didn't rain and there were just dry winds coming in just spreading that fire those of you who were kind of following it just kept being a dry wind spread the fire spread the fire no rain it's like when's it gonna rain and then finally it rained and then it was over but until it rained man that dry wind was just spread it was like God was just just fanning the flames for day after day after day well it's just a coincidence just a coincidence that as California gets the most wicked it gets the most judgment from God I'm not buying it not buying it folks I'm sure some good people in Paradise were affected I know that tons of good people in San Francisco and Sacramento were choking on the same smoke but at the end of the day that is a judgment of God and what we need to take as a lesson is Luke 13 you know what Jesus said to them in Luke 13 we need to take that hey do you think that Paradise California is worse than Alvin Texas nope you know I maybe it was where I don't know I don't know anything about Alvin I'm not down on Alvin today I'm just saying look I you know I all I know I don't know much about this area I know my area and if I look at Tempe I look at Scottsdale I look at Mesa it wouldn't surprise me if God sent a natural disaster to punish Phoenix Arizona when I go door-to-door and people are just the end look these no religion crowd when you knock their door they're not nice to you friend they just oh they just hate you and they want to call the police on you for soul winning and they want to just cuss you out and discourage you and just rebuke you and treat you badly folks what do you think God feels about that he's not impressed folks so we need to understand hey except we repent we shall all likewise perish okay and again this is a lot of people will try to use this as a salvation verse folks isn't about this isn't about heaven and hell this isn't about salvation it's about a tower falling on somebody's hand it's about people getting slain by the sword of the Romans he's not saying hey if you don't repent of all your sins you're not gonna go to heaven have you heard people try to use these verses to say that oh yeah this is saying that if you don't repent of your sins you're not going to heaven is that what is that the context the context is the Roman governor is murdering people towers are falling on people's heads and if you don't repent you're gonna have the same thing happen and then guess what the same thing literally happened when the Romans came in in 66 AD and started burning it all down and and slaying and so forth over the course of seven years 66 to 73 culminating in 70 AD when the temple was burned and the city was burned and the city fell then it happened again in 130 AD and that time Jerusalem was completely wiped out to where there was not even one Jew left in the city and in fact the Romans made it illegal for a Jew to come within a certain distance of Jerusalem 100% of them were expelled I mean when God does a job he finishes it and in 130 AD man it was finished that country that nation of the Jews had been annihilated from that area to where there wasn't even one left in Jerusalem not even one they all were expelled does that mean that every single last one was a bad person or a horrible person you believe that I don't I think God is a God of wrath and judgment and you know what we ought to do we ought to tremble and fear God and we need pulpits all over America to preach the fear of God the wrath of God the judgment of God and we ought to tremble before God because he holds our breath in his hand and he can wipe out anybody at any time you say well that's a negative message you better know it's a negative message the Bible's filled with a negative message friend now there's also the good news amen hey the good news is Jesus died for you and all you have to do is believe in him and you'll be saved and no matter how much smoke you choke on in this lifetime and no matter how many times your city burns down and you have to drive out with a wall of fire on each side you're going to heaven when you die amen isn't that great I get it is believed and you know here's the other good news God can bless your whole city if your city will actually honor him and do right in his sight so look it's not all doom and gloom folks but there's a lot of doom and gloom in this book and if you don't agree with me you haven't been reading the same book I've been reading folks it doesn't take long in the beginning God created in the heaven and the earth within a few minutes God's killing everyone right oh yeah all right I'm gonna read the Bible all right Genesis chapter 1 all right I'll always create all the animals yeah God's made oh yeah whoa that escalated quickly the whole world's dead in chapter 6 except eight people God just killed the whole planet I didn't are you reading the same book well that's the Old Testament all right let's read the New Testament okay the birth of the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise okay great and then you get to chapter 3 and it's like you know God's gonna burn up the shaft with unquenchable fire and think not to say that Abraham's your father every tree that bring it up forth good fruits you down and cast in the fire and then you're like get all the way to Revelation boy the book of Revelation makes everything in the Old Testament see my child's play folks the book of Revelation makes Egypt look like child's play the plagues on Egypt is child's play have you read Revelation you want to talk natural disasters chapter 6 chapter 8 chapter 9 chapter 11 chapter 16 you want to talk natural disasters folks God's wrath is real let's power doesn't have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word Lord and I pray that you would just give us fear Lord not of man not fear of what man can do unto us Lord help us to fear you and to love you and to tremble before you Lord help us to serve you with fear and to rejoice with trembling and Lord I pray that pastors all over America would preach the fear and wrath and judgment that we find in the Word of God thank you Lord for this book that will warn us thank you for salvation Lord that thank you that we're not appointed to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ but Lord help us to preach a warning message to the people of America to the people of the whole world that they would fear before you because not only are heaven and hell real but you also sometimes choose to punish people and make examples out of them in this lifetime and we know that someday you will do that on mass in this world Lord during the tribulation and later during your wrath being poured out Lord God I just pray that we would study and read the entire Bible preach the entire Bible and believe it and understand it whether it's popular or not whether people like it or not and in Jesus name we pray amen