Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward. Isaiah 1.4
If you’re following the news you may have noticed that our beloved leader Sir Keir Starmer spoke outside in Downing Street at his inauguration as Prime Minister and said ‘things will get worse before they get better’.
I sent him a letter with a copy of Light for Last Days and a prophecy about what’s going to happen: the 10 signs of the Second Coming of the Messiah booklet, and I said,
In a way, what you say is correct. Things will get worse before they get better. They’ll get much much worse as the prophets of the Bible play out in current events. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to reverse this trend. The only Way things will get better will be when Jesus Christ returns with all power of God to put things right, put right the mess which humans have made of our world. For details of how this will work out, please read the enclosed magazine and the booklet 10 signs of the Return of the Messiah.
Tony Pearce’s letter to Sir Keir Starmer
Whether he will read them or not, I don’t know. I also sent a copy to our local MP.
So, why would I say that they might go from bad to much much worse? Two basic reasons:
First, because for the Word of God to be fulfilled, one has to say that, if you look at the prophets of the Bible writing about the end times, you’ll find that they all speak about a time of great trouble which will come before the Second Coming of Jesus. Jesus himself said that this time of trouble will be unlike any time that’s been before or ever shall be. And that, unless God cut short those days, then no flesh would be saved, which implies that if God doesn’t cut short those days, the trouble will bring the end of life on the earth. So, the Bible does say there is going to be a much, much worse time in the days to come.
It also says there is going to be a much, much, indescribably better time coming when Jesus returns. And, for those who believe in Jesus, you’re going to have a number of experiences which are so mind-blowingly good that I can’t describe them. But they’re in the Bible, and those who believe in Jesus are going to be supernaturally taken out of the world in the event we call the ‘rapture of the church’ when one will be taken and one will be left, and we’ll go to be with the Lord: we’ll meet the Lord in the air and we’ll have these bodies which are subject to aging, to sickness and, ultimately, to death replaced with bodies which will never get old, never get sick, and never die. When you get to my age in life, particularly, you are definitely looking forward to that experience. And we’ll go to the marriage supper of the Lamb and meet with Jesus and all the apostles and all the people down through the ages before coming back with Jesus, riding on white horses at the Second Coming of Jesus when he takes up his reign on the earth for a thousand years.
Does that sound good? Yeah! You have to believe in Jesus to give you all that. So, I do have to warn you and anybody who’s listening to this:
If you don’t believe in Jesus, then, the future is actually indescribably bad because you’ll be separated from God for all eternity in a place which called is called ‘hell’, which you don’t want to go to and you don’t need to go to because, if you believe the Bible, you go to be with Jesus forever.
So, that’s the first reason why things are going to go from bad to worse. That is, to fulfil the prophecies of the Bible.
The second reason actually reminds us of something Keir Starmer also said. He said ‘This project’, referring to the present Labour government’s project I suppose, ‘has always been about fixing the foundations of our country.’
Okay, so the aim of the present government is to fix the foundations which apparently have been destroyed. Now, there’s a verse in the Psalms which says,
3 If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do? Psalm 11:3
And, if you look at things from a Biblical, Christian point of view, then the foundations of the biblical viewpoint, particularly the biblical Christian viewpoint, have been destroyed in this country over the last several years.
They’ve been destroyed by successive governments, the Tory Conservatives and by politicians who, in my mind, have actually betrayed this country and taken us in the wrong direction, into the hands of people who actually want to destroy us.
I have no hope at all that Sir Keir Starmer is going to change that unless he repents and believes the Gospel which, if he did, he’d actually be thrown out of office anyway.
So, the way the system is structured, he cannot fix the foundations. There’s a certain train of events which have been set in motion which will lead ultimately to this time of trouble I’ve mentioned.
But, I I felt to read again the scripture which Chris read to us the other week. I’m going to read it again from Isaiah chapter 1 which, to my mind, describes what’s happening today. It’s written by Isaiah of course for the people of Israel at that time. But, if you look at it carefully, you can see that much of it applies to our time, to us today. So we’re going to read from Isaiah chapter 1, starting at verse 2:
2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth!
For the Lord has spoken:
“I have nourished and brought up children,
And they have rebelled against Me;
3 The ox knows its owner
And the donkey its master’s crib;
But Israel does not know,
My people do not consider.”4 Alas, sinful nation,
A people laden with iniquity,
A brood of evildoers,
Children who are corrupters!
They have forsaken the Lord,
They have provoked to anger
The Holy One of Israel,
They have turned away backward.5 Why should you be stricken again?
You will revolt more and more.
The whole head is sick,
And the whole heart faints.
6 From the sole of the foot even to the head,
There is no soundness in it,
But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores;
They have not been closed or bound up,
Or soothed with ointment.7 Your country is desolate,
Your cities are burned with fire;
Strangers devour your land in your presence;
And it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
8 So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard,
As a hut in a garden of cucumbers,
As a besieged city.
9 Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.10 Hear the word of the Lord,
You rulers of Sodom;
Give ear to the law of our God,
You people of Gomorrah:
11 “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?”
Says the Lord.
“I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
And the fat of fed cattle.
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
Or of lambs or goats.12 “When you come to appear before Me,
Who has required this from your hand,
To trample My courts?
13 Bring no more futile sacrifices;
Incense is an abomination to Me.
The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies—
I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
14 Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
My soul hates;
They are a trouble to Me,
I am weary of bearing them.
15 When you spread out your hands,
I will hide My eyes from you;
Even though you make many prayers,
I will not hear.
Your hands are full of blood. Isaiah 1:2-15
This is a pretty strong statement. He’s actually saying to the people of Israel, ‘I’m fed up with your religion. It does nothing for me. You can offer all your sacrifices all you like but it’s just hypocrisy because in your hearts there is so much evil and I’m waiting for you to change your ways before I can take note of what you are saying. Even your prayers, I won’t hear them.‘
It means that we have to be right with God if God going to hear our prayers. We have to be living in the right way if we want God to bless us. Which is what the prophet says in the next few verses which concludes this section of scripture. We read,
16 “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good;
Seek justice,
Rebuke the oppressor;
Defend the fatherless,
Plead for the widow.18 “Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the Lord,
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
They shall be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They shall be as wool.
19 If you are willing and obedient,
You shall eat the good of the land;
20 But if you refuse and rebel,
You shall be devoured by the sword”;
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 1:16-20
It’s a very graphic description of the nation and I think you can see, if you look at it carefully, there are a number of things which relate to this nation, to Britain, as well as to Israel.
We see a body here which is described as being afflicted from head to toe. The head is injured, the heart is afflicted. So the top people who are running the country – from the top people right down to to the people at the bottom of the pile – you’ve got a diseased and wounded body.
The head which is the controlling influence is no longer subject to the head of God, but is under its own influence and particularly under the influence of the evil one and therefore it’s giving wrong advice, it’s giving wrong directions, and it’s not functioning with sound judgment.
Do you see any of that happening in our country today? Especially, from people in authority? Sometimes, there are some really crazy things going on which seem to be mad. The heart also is wrong, it’s afflicted. The heart, which is the seed of the emotion, of the spiritual life, which causes the whole body to to function correctly and to to live is now malfunctioning.
So if the head and the heart are malfunctioning then, that body is diseased, and if it continues in that way, it’s going to die because, if your head’s not working and your heart’s not working, you are heading towards actual death.
God is saying that there’s something so radically wrong with this society that, unless it changes its ways, it’s on the path to extinction, to death. And He tells us very clearly what the reason is for this condition. He says ‘they’re a sinful nation. They don’t consider God. They’re a brood of evildoers, and they have forsaken the Lord. They provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel. They’ve turned the away, backward.’
It’s not accidental. They’re in this condition is because of an attitude which has been part of the society, from the rulers down to the bottom, of forsaking the Lord, doing what they think is right not what God says is right. And, as a result, they’re in this desperate condition and they really speaking about rejection of and rebellion against God at all levels of society.
In the days of Isaiah, the foundations were laid by Moses in the Torah and the way that God wanted the people to live was according to the Torah, the Commandments given by God particularly The Ten Commandments given at Sinai.
By the time of the prophets, you see that all of those things are now being set aside and people are doing what is opposed to those Commandments.
Today, the foundations are laid by the Apostles of Jesus Christ who is the right foundation that we should lay our lives upon. And we see that the Christian foundations of our society have also been destroyed, and so, it’s no accident that these things are happening.
He says that the result is desolation, ‘your cities are burned with fire, your fields are stripped by foreigners, what previous generations have built up is now being torn down and laid waste‘. They are compared to Sodom and Gomorrah. We know that Sodom and Gomorrah were of course destroyed by the fire of God because of their sin. And He says
9 Unless the Lord of hosts
Had left to us a very small remnant,
We would have become like Sodom,
We would have been made like Gomorrah.
The question is: what does He mean by the remnant. It’s one of the words which Isaiah uses frequently in his prophecies to speak about the remnant of those believing in God, the godly, a remnant of people who are still living according to the commands of God. And He’s saying here that if it wasn’t for that godly remnant then, this society, in other words, the Israel that He’s talking to, would become like Sodom and Gomorrah.
What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah? They were destroyed. So, again, you have this image that, if they carry on this way, if they’re continuing in this rebellion, they’re heading for destruction.
Could it be that that is happening to our country as well? Do you see signs like Sodom and Gomorrah in this country? Do you see rulers who are like Sodom and Gomorrah?
Our role in this is to be a faithful remnant, to bear witness to God’s truth, to pray, to pray for the rot to be halted, for the truth to be preserved.
But Isaiah saying warning here that because of the rulers of Sodom and the people of Gomorrah judgment is coming. Indeed, it’s already beginning. And he goes on to say in verse 21 that the faith city has become a prostitute, the priests and the prophets have sold out to evil forces.
Do you see that happening in our society as well? How much has the church sold out? How much has official Christianity abandoned what’s written in this Book? You’ve got multifaith ideas, you’ve got support for the LGBT agenda and the church is prostituting itself in so many ways to Antichrist measures. That’s why the church is so so weak, that’s why the people who speak in the Name of the Lord or of Christianity have so little authority. Because they’re not based upon the Word of God, they’re just based upon their private opinions most of which are going in the same way as those of the politicians and everybody else.
In fact, sometimes I think the church is saying, ‘Please world, we want to be like you! Don’t leave us behind! We’re we’re on the same page!‘ and ‘Don’t kick us out! We just want to be like you!‘
God says, ‘No, don’t be like the world!‘
God wants you to be different. God wants you to challenge the world. God wants you to resist the world and all its influences. And Isaiah goes on to say that Justice falls, in a later passage in Isaiah he’s going to write,
14 Justice is turned back,
And righteousness stands afar off;
For truth is fallen in the street,
And equity cannot enter.
15 So truth fails,
And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Isaiah 59:14-15
In other words, the godly person, the righteous person who finds themselves on the wrong side of those in power make themselves a prey, they may find themselves being subject to some kind of persecution or rejection.
And we see today, even today in our society, cases of Christians who protest at some form of antichrist rulings in society, or in their jobs, or in their homes against the political system who end up in trouble with those in authority, sometimes even losing their jobs, being condemned or being ostracized.
And he goes on to say that the result is a growing violence in society. You see that happening: all these random knife attacks, senseless killings, they’re now releasing criminals early from prison due to not enough space, presumably to carry on doing crime. And he also goes on to speak about money losing its value. Do you see that happening? The cost of living crisis, inflation, high taxation, and measures which are now being proposed about which I’ll say a little bit more later but which will inevitably lead, I believe, to greater economic decline and eventual collapse.
