Dear brothers and sisters. I have fever, chills, nausea, and aching body, so won't be with you this morning. And I'm going to have you sit before I read Leviticus 18. And before I read the text for this sermon I want to read Joshua 8:35. It says this: "There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them." Deuteronomy 31 had mandated the reading of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy to men, women and little ones without leaving anything out. In Nehemiah 8-9, Ezra not only read the Pentateuch but explained it to the people, including the little children.

The reason I mention this is because portions of the Pentateuch get pretty explicit. And some of you may be offended by the material I will read right now and that I will cover in a couple minutes. If you believe I am wrong and you need to take your children out, I will understand. But I think they should stay, and I think this will give you some good discussion material later on. I will try to be no more explicit than Scripture is. But the Bible insists that we preach the whole counsel of God. And it certainly intended Leviticus 18 to be read even to the children.

So hear the inerrant word of God. Leviticus 18.

Introduction - a new Canadian law (C-4) would make this sermon a crim

When King James, the King of England, published the Book of Sports, there was a lot of push back by the clergy. They believed that his decree was authorizing Sabbath breaking on a massive scale, and they raised opposition to it. When his son, Charles I, reissued this Book of Sports, he decided to make an example of anyone who opposed it, so he made a decree requiring all pastors to read this attack on the Sabbath from their pulpits. And there would be penalties if they did not. Many pastors refused and were ejected from their pulpits. They proceeded to preach illegally underground, receiving penalties. But one pastor read the decree (much to the horror of his parishioners), and then read God's law on the Sabbath. He then told his congregation that they had just heard the decrees of an earthly king who has earthly penalties and the decree of their heavenly King who has both earthly and everlasting penalties and to choose wisely which decree they will obey.

Well, a similar choice is being faced by pastors in Canada, with two differences - 1) According to Leviticus 18, the subject matter being faced by the pastors in Canada is far worse than the subject matter the Puritans were having to deal with. 2) And second, the penalty is far greater: up to five years in prison. Please pray for them.

Let me give some background on how this all came about. There were a number of conservatives who voted against a similar bill in the past. But last year Bill C-4 passed both the House and the Senate of Canada without any opposition. Sadly, not a single dissenting vote was cast by the conservative party in either the House of Commons or the Senate.¹ Which is surprising, since this horrendous bill declares all-out war upon the Biblical ethic of sexuality, and criminalizes anyone who seeks to convert, counsel, or move a person from perverse sexual expressions, desires, or identity back to what the Bible allows. You can't preach repentance; you can't preach that it is possible to change from (what they call) the LGBTQ2S+ identities back to what they call cisgender or what you were assigned at birth. Anyway, this draconian bill will almost certainly be interpreted to mean that it is illegal for pastors to preach against homosexuality, transgenderism, or other perversions, and certainly makes Christian counselors subject to up to five years of prison time if they help a person to change his identity to Biblical norms. But not only are pastors and counselors in danger of prison, so are those who advertise or promote such ministries. Just imagine being sent to prison for two years for handing out invitations to come to church. Though that may not happen, it is technically possible, given the language of the bill. That bill received Royal Assent on December 8, and became law on January 8 of this year. When it passed, the Parliament was filled with cheers. May God curse those who curse His Word. May he curse every one of them if they do not repent.

So at great danger to their freedom, preachers all across Canada are going to preach today on God's design for marriage and the biblical ethic for sexuality. They will be doing so illegally, declaring King Jesus to be above such ungodly statutes, and that there is one God and one Lord over His church and that Christ alone gets to both define marriage and dictate what is required to be preached from the pulpit. The civil government has zero authority to tell pastors what they can preach. John MacArthur is calling all pastors in the USA to stand in solidarity with their Canadian brothers and to preach on the same subject today.² So today's sermon is titled, "Lest The Land Vomit You Out." In many ways we are heading in the same trajectory toward persecution as Canada is.

The relationship of sexual perversion and the murder of babies (v. 21)

And by the way, today is also Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. And I think it is appropriate that the two topics be preached on together. Wherever you find sexual perversion you will find a demeaning of life. This was true in the ancient world and it is true today. I talked to a girl who was ditched by her boyfriend when she refused to get an abortion. She tried to point out that the baby was a living human being, and he didn’t care. All he cared about was the money he would lose and the sex he was anticipating. It dawned on her for the first time that he didn’t love her; he was just using her. His call for abortion not only demeaned the life of the baby, it demeaned her life because she had just become a sex object to him.

When Scripture stands for the sanctity of life, it does so within the context of the sanctity of marriage, the sanctity of sexuality, the sanctity of God’s law, and the dignity of man and woman as made in God's image. And yes, these perverts are made in God's image, and we should long to see them saved from their ungodly perversion. But God says that there can be no salvation without repentance, which means that there can be no salvation without someone preaching or counseling or witnessing to these people illegally in Canada. This is a salvation issue, and for people to criticize MacArthur as messing with politics is not right. All the things I have mentioned are a package deal. When God’s law was thrown out of the public sphere, it was only a matter of time before all of the perversions mentioned in this chapter have been condoned in the public sphere. And this is true in both Canada and America. Women, men and children are used as objects. When pornography was legalized, it was just a matter of time before women and children became demeaned, used and discarded. We cannot adequately address the problem of abortion without addressing the actions and attitudes which lead to the demeaning of life. And that is the goal of Leviticus chapter 18.

Look at verse 21. This is a tiny little verse about child sacrifice inserted into a huge chapter on sexuality. What's it doing there? Verse 21 says, "And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD." The question is, “Why does God connect this murder of babies with sexual sins?” There is always a reason for the order in which Scriptures are given. It’s never arbitrary. And in this case, there are multiple reasons: logical, historical, and consequential.

The logical connections

People sacrificed to Molen for economic reasons (cf. eg. Jer. 49:3-4)

Let’s look at the logical connection first. In your outline you will notice that people sacrificed children to Molech for three reasons: economics (they needed better crops), sexual pleasure (Molech promised them unbridled pleasure if they sacrificed their babies), and state control. And these are the three biggest factors in abortion today. Let's look at each one.

Economics is the reason most often given for abortions, and sadly, it is the reason most often given as to why Christians don’t want to have any children. Children are being sacrificed before the god of materialism. So this sermon will not just be pointing God's finger of judgment at the world; it will be pointing four fingers back at ourselves. We need to make sure that we are not part of the problem for the direction society goes. I largely blame the church for theologies that have made the church unsalty. And in Matthew 5 Jesus said that if the salt has lost its savor, it is good for nothing but to be cast out and trampled underfoot of men. Men would not be able to trample the church under its feet indefinitely unless God had judged the church for its saltlessness. A salty church is a powerful church because it has God on its side. So first of all, there are economic reasons for abortion. And we need to make sure that we do not have selfish reasons for limiting the number of children that we have.

People sacrificed to Molech for sexual reasons (cf. eg. Lev. 20:5; 1 Kings 11:4-5; see Jer. 32:35 where Moloch worship = Baal worship)

Second, sexual pleasure of every sort is another cause. Babies don’t fit into our hedonistic society. They must be sacrificed if sexual fantasies are to continue. And the sacrifice may be murder or it may be the desire not to have any children. But it is a deliberate sacrificing of children in order to have the pleasures of Molech. Molech was the god of sex. He was a real demon who hugely influenced society. He gave total permission to enjoy yourself so long as you submitted unconditionally to the state - which is the next connection in your outline:

People sacrificed to Molech for State control reasons (“Moloch” “Milchom” and “Malchom” = “king” or “kingship”) - the state owned the children in principle in Molech nations.

The next point says that people sacrificed to Molech for State control reasons. And government control has been obvious in our highly sexualized culture. Why do you think that government schools have education on sex, contraceptives and abortion from Kindergarten to 12th grade? Is the subject really that complicated that they need twelve years of weekly study? No. Absolutely no. It is an issue of mind control. Wherever you have the sins mentioned in Leviticus 18 you will also have a Molech type state - a centralized state; a controlling state. Molech wants its citizens to be made into its own image, and that requires state-controlled education. And wherever state-controlled education has been pervasive, Molech has had fabulous success in changing the children of Christians. In Canada, Christians gladly and willingly gave up their children to government schools and have wondered why their children don't think Biblically. The answer is not to redeem the government schools. You cannot redeem what God outlaws. That would be like redeeming prostitution and making it a safer prostitution where prayers and Bible reading happen before the immoral act. No. The answer is for Christians to pull their children out of the government schools. Unless they do so, they will lose their children. And Christians respond to me that children need to be missionaries in the schools. No, you must train your children to be missionaries, and by sending them to school you are giving up the opportunity to train them into a comprehensive Christian worldview. Instead, the Canaanites are doing the missionary training; they are intensively indoctrinating your children from kindergarten through 12th grade and beyond to be Molech followers. And they have been very successful. America and Canada have become for the most part Molech-worldview countries.

The historical connection

And down through history this Molech connection between sexual libertinism and statism has been true. Studies have been done that have shown that the societies that allow the greatest sexual freedom have also had the greatest amount of state control. It's just the way the demon, Molech, works. He's at work today just as he was back then - maybe by a different name, but with the same results.

We still have some freedoms in America, but Rushdoony is right when he says that America has become a Molech dominated country. And Canada has sadly gone that direction much more quickly. Both nations are pre-occupied with sex, materialism, and more state control of everything.

The consequential connection (Rom. 1; 2 Tim. 3:1-5; etc.)

So there are logical connections between these subjects and historical connections. But there are also consequential connections. Romans 1 indicates that when a nation abandons God, and God abandons a nation, the nation will be given over to sexual perversions and a loss of natural affection for children. It is inevitable. Romans 1 guarantees it. The Greek word that is translated “without natural affection” is used only in Romans 1 and in 2 Tim. 3:3, and in both places it describes a society abandoned by God. Whenever the word ἄστοργος is used in early Greek literature, it is used of the loss of affection for their children. For example, the Dictionary of New Testament Theology tells us that this is the word used by Seneca to describe exposing unwanted babies and his justifying of the drowning of weak or deformed babies. Romans 1 uses that word and a description of sexual perversions as the indicator that a nation is ripe for judgment. The two subjects go hand in hand.

That is exactly what this chapter in Leviticus is doing. Look at verses 24-25:

Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled which I am casting out before you. For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

Every nation has sins, but the sins of this chapter are the sins which almost guarantee judgment to come upon it. And we should not think that the Canaanites were an exception. Many years before, the Canaanites dispossessed the former inhabitants because of their perversions. Deuteronomy 2 tells us that God sent the Moabites to dispossess the Emmimites, and he sent the Ammonites to disposses the Zamzummim. And he gives other examples. We are not just talking about a one time event in history that was unique to Israel. This chapter is talking about the conditions that result in judgment on any nation in any age. Nineveh barely escaped the judgment that many other nations have faced - and they did so through repentance. And the scary thing is that America looks no different than the land of Canaan. If FBI statistics on legal and illegal pornography are right, then every single form of perversion mentioned in this chapter is rampant across America; not just present, but rampant. It's even worse in Canada.

We Christians tend to lead a rather sheltered life, and that is good. But legal cases advocating for incest, polyandry (where one woman has multiple husbands at the same time), and even bestiality are coming to courts in Canada and America with opinions written by PhD experts supporting each of these perversions. I had my first wake-up call back in 1986 when President Ronald Reagan's Attorney General, Edwin Meese, commissioned a study on pornography and what could be done to stem it. When they produced the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography report it was not fit to be read, even though it was opposed to the pornography. Skimming through parts of it made me want to throw up. Things were bad in 1986. Apparently they are much worse today. And so we have come to the next point in your outline: America is like the land of Canaan with its abominable customs. So is Canada. Both countries are ripe for judgment. Will God use another World War to judge them? Who knows? There are plenty of other judgments God can creatively bring.

America is like the land of Canaan with its "abominable customs"

Incest (vs. 6-18)

But take a look at the first perversion. Verses 6-18 condemn incest: "None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD." This is speaking not just of marriage, but also of any sexually prurient viewing or uncovering. And it is not speaking of medical uncovering, which is necessary. It is sexually prurient unconvering of some sort. The literal phrase, “to uncover” that occurs throughout this chapter has to do with any prurient uncovering and would include pornography. And the pornography being churned out that caters to incest is staggering. The Attorney General's study 40 years ago identified over 300,000 American children who were used in pornography movies that specialized in incest. This was just a subgroup of the larger perversion of pedophilia. Apparently the figures are far higher today. And those who have worked in trying to bring the crime syndicates to justice, estimate that these kiddie porn films are being sent to hundreds of millions of people. These perverts would not make these perverted films unless there is a market of perverted minds. And there is; there is a massive market.

Now we have no accurate ideas of how much incest is going on, but what kind of a mind delights in reading and viewing videos that focus on prurient incest? Yet there are millions of Americans who are addicted to it. That is the garbage produced by the crime syndicates in the States. But even the legal pornography (which grosses somewhere between 15 billion a year to 67 billion a year - who knows the exact figures?) has a high percentage of pseudo-child porn where a small woman will dress like and look like a child. Is it any wonder that children are dehumanized? If we are to successfully fight against Molech’s sacrifice of children, we must also oppose incest in all of its forms, including pornography. Pray curses against these pornographers. Pray God's judgments on men like the Australian leader, Richard Morris, who is pushing to decriminalize incest laws in 60 countries. He is currently testifying on behalf of a New York woman who wants to marry her son. And I have barely touched on the tip of the iceberg - because I don't want to get more explicit than the Scripture is. Incest is a major problem in America and Canada.

Unclean sexual habits (v. 19)

Blood (v. 19; 15:24; 20:18; Ezek. 18:6)

But this chapter also advocates for hygiene and healthy practices in sexual relations. For example, verse 19 speaks of the uncleanness of menstrual sex. "Also you shall not approach a woman to uncover her nakedness as long as she is in her customary impurity." And some evangelicals will say, "Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah. We are not going there. That's over the top. That law is no longer binding." And of course, the incest advocate says the same about the incest laws, and the homosexual says the same about the homosexual laws. And if you disagree with me I hope you have Biblical reasons for disagreeing rather than arbitrary reasons. It will not do to say that this was just one of the laws that separated Israel from the Gentiles. This whole chapter denies that. Notice in verse 24 that this was not just a law for Israel. Verse 24 says, "Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you." What's He saying? He is saying that God judges Gentile nations for these sexual practices as well. This law was repeated in Leviticus 20:18 and in Ezekiel 18:6. And as Bahnsen points out, this law was upheld by two church councils in the book of Acts - the council in Acts 15 and the council in Acts 21:25. The way the Acts 15 council handled the issues of blood, it is clear that they were upholding all the laws in Leviticus 18 - both moral and ceremonial. And then Paul distributed that interpretation to all the churches of the Gentiles. It's still a New Testament thing.

Now why did God give this law? Bahnsen's exegesis shows that it’s not a moral principle because at the time of Adam and Eve marrying a sister was the only option for awhile. So it's not like this was a moral law. This chapter has both health laws and moral laws. But both continue to be binding according to Acts 15. Anyway, God got His people away from marrying close relatives as soon as possible, and even after the people abandoned God, they still had these inbuilt inhibitions. I don’t think it is because it is inherently immoral so much as where it leads. Think about the health issues of incestuous marriages - they lead quickly to genetic problems.

What about menstrual sex? There are health problems with it as well. In my book on Conception Control³ I point to several health issues including a very high incidence of women becoming allergic to their husband's sperm when they engage in menstrual sex. God knows what He is doing. And there are a bunch of other health issues that are related to this as well. God gave the law because He loves you.

But there are other reasons God gave this law. One is that the Molech impulse demeans the woman. Dobson was amazed to find out that a majority of the hard core pornography that is out there is stuff that would revolt you and me, but people get there down a slippery slope that started with the unclean. Eventually they are led to delight in blood and feces - I believe it is because it is an unclean spirit moving them. Many who are addicted to pornography find that demeaning, dominating and hurting women brings them the greatest pleasure. Men who claim women as property want no limits placed upon their relationship with their wife, but God says that women are not property. They have rights; they have privacy; and they have limits. And this is one area of privacy that God has given to them because it humbles the woman. So even though it is a ceremonial law, there are health and ethical aspects to it as well.

Fecal/”uncleanness” (7:21; Deut. 23:12-14; Rom. 1:26-27 - “natural use”)

This verse is not the only unclean form of sex that God addresses. Both Leviticus and Deuteronomy also show anal intercourse to not be good. It calls that uncleanness. Romans 1:26-27 indicates that when men begin exchanging the natural use of the wife to an unnatural use of the wife, it has the potential of leading them into homosexuality eventually. Homosexuals are still a small minority in the States, but do you want to know why they are so accepted? Because the same sexual behavior is being practiced in decent upright homes. It isn't the same thing, but Romans says that it's a step that softens people up and takes away their inbuilt inhibitions.

But the pornography of our day has gone way beyond this. Every imaginable form of filth is reveled in. Just as an evil spirit of uncleanness had gripped the Canaanites, there are men and women today who are driven to spread, ingest and play with filth - whether menstrual blood, animal blood, human and animal urine, and other unhealthy things. God calls His people to cleanliness and decency, and the farther from that that we stray, the more we will be drawn to a Molech demon who does not respect life.

Adultery (v. 20)

In verse 20 it says, "Moreover you shall not lie carnally with your neighbor’s wife, to defile yourself with her." We are going to be seeing a progression in this chapter from unhealthy to bad to worse - incest, impurity with one’s wife, adultery, abortion, homosexuality (with homosexuality being worse than abortion), and finally bestiality - the unthinkable. There is a logical progression in the chapter from bad (but not immoral) to worse, to worst.

But we'll just park for a few minutes on verse 20. There is no denying that our land has been teeming with adulterous relationships. And again, pornography is a great contributing cause. This visual form of adultery (it's heart adultery) is a multi-billion dollar business with the legal distributors. We have no idea how big the illegal porn is, but it is probably even bigger. There are far more legal pornography stores in the US than MacDonalds restaurants. And you will see them all throughout the Bible belt of America. If you wonder why America has been given over to a child-sacrificing Molech you need look no further than the magazine rack of your corner grocery story.

Since the Southern Baptist denomination is considered to be the flagship evangelical denomination, I will use them as an illustration. In 1969, the former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, W.A. Criswell (a very noted and respected writer) actually welcomed and hoped for a Roe v Wade kind of a decision in his future that would legalize abortion, saying this:

I have always felt that it was only after a child was born and had a life separate from its mother that it became an individual person, and it has always, therefore, seemed to me that what is best for the mother and for the future should be allowed.

That was W.A. Criswell, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention. In 1971 (two years before Roe v Wade), the Southern Baptists approved a resolution that said,

...we call upon Southern Baptists to work for legislation that will allow the possibility of abortion under such conditions as rape, incest, clear evidence of severe fetal deformity, and carefully ascertained evidence of the likelihood of damage to the emotional, mental, and physical health of the mother.

Now, certainly, that attitude has changed in the Southern Baptist denomination. But it illustrates that Scripture is not the foundation for much of Christianity. We keep following the cycles of Judges. Because of government education we keep thinking like pagans.

I hate to pick on the same denomination, but they are supposedly the flagship of evangelicalism within the USA, so I think they are fair game. Granted, not every case has been proven, but the number of pastors in that denomination that have already been convicted of sexual assaults on children and being caught with child pornography in their possession is astounding. We are talking pastors here! The last I looked into it there were 700 children being represented legally as having been assaulted. The majority of those have already been proven to be true. The denomination has not denied that these things have happened, or that sexual misconduct has been swept under the carpet in the past. Over the past two decades I have seen similar things happening in many different denominations. It sickens me.

But we need to ask, "Why has it happened?" And I believe it is because Christians don't have a hatred for indecency in supposedly non-pornographic movies, and they get softened up to use what is defined as porn. Unless our consciences are held captive to everything in God's Word, we gradually become hardened and get used to thinking like the world.

Murder of Babies (v. 21)

We have already dealt with verse 21 earlier, but there is a logical order to these verses. Child murder often follows the previous sexual sins, including adultery. Verse 21 goes on to say, "And you shall not let any of your descendants pass through the fire to Molech, nor shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord." It is very difficult to serve the demon known as Molech in sexuality without eventually serving him with child sacrifice. How many babies have been passed through the fire to the gods of materialism and sexual selfishness? In 2019 the CDC's official report was 629,898 reported abortions for that year. That is 1,726 American babies killed each day in 2019. And that does not even count abortions due to the pill. Worldwide the figures are staggering. It is a holocaust of enormous proportions. If God could say to Cain, the voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground, what is God saying about the multiplied millions of puddles of blood in this land? And since both individuals and land are over and over said by Leviticus 18 to be defiled by these sins, we definitely live in a defiled land. I have said this over and over again - don't assume America will be blessed or can be blessed indefinitely. When the land is defiled by these sins, there is only one way that it can become undefiled. And Ray Simmon's book, the Confessionalist County⁴ shows you how - the leaders of church and state must repent of the sins of the nation, and must confess true doctrine, and must apply the cleansing blood of Christ, and must adopt and enforce God's laws within county, state, and nation. That means that Canada and America are in deep trouble.

Homosexuality (v. 22)

Well, let's go on to verse 22. The next downward progression in this chapter is homosexuality. Verse 22 says, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination." And Paul (using simple logic) applies this verse to women having sex with women. Romans 1 indicates that when a nation condones homosexuality, it has already seen the withdrawing of God’s restraining hand. That is the first stage of judgment - a giving up of a nation unto a depraved mind. Churches in a county or city can band together to have Solemn Assemblies for confessing sin and affirming God's law. This is beginning to happen in various parts of the States, and I would like to see it happening in the towns and counties represented in this church.

Bestiality (v. 23)

And then verse 23 speaks of the lowest dregs of evil: "Nor shall you mate with any beast, to defile yourself with it. Nor shall any woman stand before a beast to mate with it. It is perversion." Believe it or not, a large trade for equipment to enable this perversion has sprung up in America, Canada, Great Britain, and throughout Europe. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on bestiality.

America has become a defiled land doomed to judgment

These acts are abominable to God in any nation (v. 24,26,27,28)

So if you have had any lingering doubts about whether America and Canada are both ripe for judgment, I hope they have vanished. We cannot say that these were only abominations for Israel. Verse 27 says, "For all these abominations the men of the land have done, who were before you, and thus the land is defiled), lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations that were before you." These acts defile any land in any age. These acts call for judgment upon any nation. America is not exempt.

These acts defile any land (v. 25,27-28)

These acts call for judgment on any nation (v. 25,28-29)

What Can We Do?

Make sure we are not part of the problem - 4 tests by Steve Gallagher - ask yourself if you are motivated in your fantasies by:

So what can we do to stem the tide? The first thing we can do is to make sure we are not part of the problem and that we have torn down all the high places of sexual idolatry from our own life. Steve Gallagher's book with that title⁵ outlines four indicators of whether or not you are on a slippery slope yourself. He encouraged people to ask themselves if they are motivated in their fantasies by the following four things:

The forbidden (Prov. 9:13-18)

Are you enticed and aroused by the forbidden. The foolish woman of Proverbs 9:13-18 feels like stolen water is sweeter than her own water, and bread that is eaten in secret is pleasant even though you don't want anyone else to know about it. The forbidden entices. And when demons see that you are enticed by the forbidden, they try to sink their claws into you to find even greater license.

Ego fulfillment (Prov. 6:24-28)

Second, are you enticed by ego fulfillment? Do you need complements to feel good about yourself? Do you look forward to the next nice thing that man might say about you? Do you flush with feelings of goodness when men complement your looks?

The ego fulfillment for the men might be different. It might be the desire to be considered a stud by all the females. And finding their admiration exhilarating. Ego fulfillment. If you read his book you will see why this is a tiny opening of the door to the demon of Molech.

The feeling that you deserve more (Eccl. 2:1,8-11)

The third thing is feeling like you deserve more than what God has allowed. Ecclesiastes 2 outlines the way that Solomon felt - that he deserved enjoying more and more and never denied himself. One way you can tell if you don't fall into this is if you routinely deny your body's desires by exercising, following a schedule, occasional fasting, disciplining your eyes and your curiosity, and living out the other Spiritual Disciplines in Whitney's book.⁶ Jesus said that you can't even be His disciple unless you take up your cross, die to self, and follow Him. Self-denial and counting the cost is a part of discipleship. If we never deny self, we are not acting like disciples.

Longing for unauthorized variety (Prov. 5:1-5,20; 1 Kings 11:1-3)

Another danger signal is if you get bored with your spouse and have to always spice things up by imagining her different or imagining him different. Besides being the sin of discontentment, studies have shown that this progressively makes a person less attracted to one's spouse. God made the sexual experience to be such that when properly engaged in, your body adjusts to be attracted to your husband or wife even as they age and lose their natural beauty. Proverbs says that even then, you can find great sexual satisfaction in your wife - not the wife with breast implants; not the wife of your imagination - your wife.

Why do I first of all have us do self-examination? Two reasons. The first is that we are commanded to take the log out of our own eye so that we can see clearly to help others. But secondly, there is a loss of power when we are not in fellowship with God. Before we can have any spiritual impact upon our nation, the church must make sure that it is pure before the Lord. If God is pleased with our life, then our actions will carry all of His power behind them.

Realize that it is never too late to reverse things

But lastly, I do want us to realize that it is never too late to reverse things. I don't want you to feel hopeless about Canada or America. It appeared like Nineveh was too late in the book of Jonah, yet through repentance, God relented His judgment. Of course, the repentance started just like Ray Simmons' book outlines that it should - the king and the citizens repented and committed themselves to God's law. We shouldn't settle for anything less than that.

Any time a nation repents, God will relent (Jer. 18:7-10; Jonah; Joel 2:12-17)

Jeremiah 18:7-10 guarantees this principle. Please turn there with me. Next time you get discouraged about the state of affairs in America, or Canada, or anywhere else, remind yourself of Nineveh’s 11th hour conversion or of God’s statement in this passage. Jeremiah 18, beginning to read at verse 7.

The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight, so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it. Now therefore, speak to the men of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, “Thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I am fashioning a disaster and devising a plan against you. Return now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good.”’” And they said, “That is hopeless! So we will walk according to our own plans, and we will every one do the imaginations of his evil heart.”

But especially notice verse 7, where it uses the word "the instant." The instant true repentance happens, God relents. Giving up on a nation is almost as bad as giving up on holiness in your own life. God says that the situation is not hopeless. If we give the message to America, God may very well grant them repentance and avert the danger that we are in. And the same is true in Canada. The church should be establishing Solemn Assemblies of repentance and confession in every city, town, and hamlet.

Atonement cleanses the defilement of the land (Deut. 21:1-9)

Second, Christ’s atonement is powerful enough to cleanse the land. 2 Chronicles 7 says that if God’s people will humble themselves and pray that God will hear, forgive and heal their land. It starts with His people. We don’t have to wait for pagan America to repent. God’s people can repent as part of America; we can humble ourselves; we can pray.

Now, if America and Canada does repent, there will be a lot of brokenness that will have to be repaired. When parents have allowed doctors to permanently cut off body parts of their children because of some passing fancy that they want to be a different sex, there will be a lot of bitterness. When people are addicted to evil, there will be a lot of work getting them out of those cesspools. But all over the States and Canada God is raising up ministries that have snatched people out of the fire and restored them. One of the ministries that has helped numerous hard core sex addicts (both men and women) is Pure Life Ministries. Steve Gallagher and his wife are tremendous counselors in this department. And I really appreciate the materials that both of them have written.

Learn to weep for America (prayerfully read through Lamentations)

Third, learn to weep for America. Jeremiah didn’t just put down Israel. He wept for Israel because he was able to identify with them. There but for the grace of God go we. If we catch a vision for how sinful we ourselves are, and a vision of the holiness of God, the sins of our nation will cause us to weep. The church has not learned how to weep. Psalm 119:136 says, "Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law." Weeping is a work of Holy Spirit. Christ wept over Jerusalem, and we need to ask God to give the church the ability to spiritually weep. May it be so Lord Jesus!

Pray for America

Fourth, pray for America and Canada. Pray your heart out for these two countries. They used to be Christian nations with Biblical laws on sexuality, and now they have become Bible hating nations. God alone can change this, which means we must petition His throne for such change. And I have suggested a few prayer requests that you can offer up:

Pray for repentance & faith to be given

Pray for repentance and faith to be given. It is a gift of God. Acts 11:18 says, "God granted to the Gentiles repentance to life." 2 Timothy 2:25 tells us to correct evil men, "if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth." Pray for repentance and faith to be granted to our nations.

Pray that God would raise up effective leaders to fight

Second, pray that God would raise up effective leaders to fight for His kingdom and to proclaim His truth. When Eli was a lousy priest God promised, "I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind" (1 Sam. 2:35). 1 Kings 14:14 talks about God raising up a righteous civil ruler. God is the one who calls pastors, reformers, writers, speakers, officers, social media gurus, and others - each with unique gifts and abilities.

Pray for ministries of healing

Third, pray for ministries of healing to be established in the land. Ideally, every church should be a powerhouse of mercy ministries mending broken families and reestablishing things that were ruined. Amos prophesied of the New Covenant saying,

Amos 9:11 “On that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down, and repair its damages; I will raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old;

Restoration and rebuilding what was broken is possible. God says that He Himself will do it. He can supernaturally change the impossible. Isaiah 61 also prophesies of New Covenant times and says that it should be a time when God's people will rebuild the old ruins, raise up former desolations, repair ruined cities, fix the mess of multiple generations, replacing shame with honor, confusion with joyful faith, and over time produce a glorious bride who loves righteousness. So God delights to use people like you and me.

Pray that the church would return to Biblical law and that it would repent of many of the same sins

Fourth, pray that the church would return to Biblical law and that it would repent of many of the same sins. We desperately need revival and reformation. But we can at least start with ourselves and ask God to give us a holy love and zeal for His law-Word.

Pray that our families would return to a Biblical model of family

Fifth, pray that our families would return to a Biblical model of family. Broken people who become Christians will need to learn the ropes from us. They will need to see how loving relationships between husband and wife are lived out, how children are raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, what godly discipline looks like, how to make a multi-generational vision, how to pass on the faith. Pray that every family will become a Biblical model of the family to new families coming in.

Pray that Christians would repent of sexual sins

Sixth, pray that Christians would repent of their own sexual sins. Pornography is not just in the world; it is in the church. This messes with the minds of men and women in a horrible way. Why should God answer our prayers concerning bills like C-4 when we aren't taking our own sexual sins of masturbation, pornography, and wandering minds seriously? And if you struggle in those areas, I have a book that addresses that practically and has helped hundreds of people to find full victory in Jesus Christ.⁷ It is doable. Where sin abounds, Paul says that grace abounds much more! Hallelujah!

Prayer that Christians would leave government schools

Seventh, as moldable as children are, pray that Christians would pull their children out of the government schools. Think about it, Luke 6:40 says, "A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." Think about both sides of that equation. A disciple or pupil is not above his teacher. He is no position to be a missionary to his teacher. The second half deals with the flip side of the coin. It says, "everyone who is perfectly trained will be like his teacher." Do you really want your child to be just like his teacher? And people have responded to me that their children don't believe everything the teacher says. But then they are not being perfectly trained. Why are you sending your child to a very lousy trainer? And if he is not lousy, then your child is going to be like the teacher in Molech worldview and practice. Why on earth would you settle for training that is designed to produce little Canaanites? Why?

It's my opinion that government schools must be shut down 100%. They are largely responsible for the LGBTQ+++ mess that we are in. I have heard surreptitiously recorded sex education classes in Omaha schools, and it is enough to make most adults nauseated. I would never repeat that stuff from the pulpit. Most people have no idea what is happening in our schools. And it isn't just sex education. The demonic Molech education and discipleship is woven into the fabric of every subject in our government schools. Nebraskans for Founders Values is one organization that is seeking to expose the rot in our government schools. I would go further than them and say that the schools should be completely shut down. But people won't be motivated to shut them down till they see how rotten and demonic to the core they have become. In the meantime pray that Christians would pull their children from the government schools. It's not free education - it is a Molech education that is extremely costly to the values, dignity, and safety of our nation. But it is especially costly to the children of Christians.

Fast for America

And because of the seriousness of the situation, I would encourage us to fast from time to time as we pray. There is something about fasting that God honors. It is one of the weapons of our warfare.

Use your political privilege

Next, use your political privilege and vote, write, and contact your elected officials. Not everyone can be involved in the same way, but faith without works is dead. Use your political privilege in a godly way.

Be informed

This involves being informed. Subscribe to the newsletters of good Christian organizations that are seeking to make a difference. Christians must get networked together, and support each other, and improve upon each other's efforts.

Vote

Voting is another privilege that we should use to the best of our abilities. I have long ago quit voting for the lesser of two evils. Doing so will keep evil men in the runnings. Until parties wake up and realize that we will not settle for less than a minimum set of qualifications, they will keep running evil men and women. And actually, I think that if Christians did something like the Allisons are doing in Texas, we could accomplish a lot. They are starting way ahead of any election and asking qualified men to run and assuring them that if they do run, their network has already raised all the campaign money that is needed and all the volunteers that are needed - if they are willing to run. This is probably the only way that we will be able to do an endrun around the establishment. Even pagans are fed up with politics as usual and may well vote for a candidate that Christians put forth. But they are asking the qualified men to run.

Hold officials accountable

Next, don't just get an official elected. Keep working with them between elections and hold them accountable.

Support godly pro-life, anti-porn, pro-law organizations with finances and prayer

Next, support godly Pro-life and pro-law organizations either with your time or money or your promotion to others or prayer. There are a lot of good organizations out there that need financial support and prayer support. I'll just give a sampling.

In Canada there is

1. the Ezra Institute headed up by Joe Boot.
2. the Liberty Coalition of Canada.

In America there is

1. American Vision
2. Generations
3. Alliance Defending Freedom
4. Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation
5. HSLDA
6. Heritage Defense
7. Capitol Studies in Lincoln, headed up by Arin Hess
8. End Abortion Now
9. Church & Family Life headed up by Scott Brown
10. Ligonier Ministries
11. Fight Laugh Feast Network
12. Alpha & Omega Ministries
13. Operation Save America
14. Biblical Blueprints

Be a witness to your neighbors

Next, be a witness to your neighbors. This can be through yard signs, Christmas presents with a book or card going along with it, BBQ invites, sharing books and videos.

Always have good literature to hand out

And actually, I separated that part out as a different point: Always have good literature to hand out. What some people have done is to have books or tracts on their desk that others can pick up and ask about. Read a provocative Christian book where others can see what you are reading on the bus or on the airplane and perhaps ask questions. Let your stands be known. Always have some literature that you can hand out when opportunity arises. We need to get the message out to America.

Join pickets where appropriate

Next, join pickets at the abortion mill. Maybe we ought to start picketing some of the porn stores in town. Maybe we ought to picket churches that have an abortionist doctor in attendance. Of course, in that case, I would approach the elders first and ask why that doctor is not under church discipline. But pickets can at least raise awareness and cut off business.

Join boycotts where appropriate

Join boycotts where appropriate. If a company has declared itself to be an enemy of truth, why enrich it if you don't have to? If you can buy that product elsewhere, why not? Boycotts are not a moral imperative, but I like to bless companies that are not aggressively anti-Christian. We need to be convinced that this is a winnable war.

But whatever the case, don’t have a “who cares” attitude. In Corrie ten Boom’s book, Amazing Love, she said,

If I straightened the pictures on the walls of your home, I am committing no sin, am I? But suppose that your house were afire, and I still went calmly about straightening pictures, what would you say?

Would you think me merely stupid or very wicked?...The world today is on fire. What are you doing to extinguish the fire?

And that is the question I want to leave with you this morning. "What are you doing to extinguish the fire?" Not all of us can be way up there on the ladder spraying water into the building. Not all of us can drive the fire truck. But all of us should be concerned, praying, and doing the points that we are able to do with the limited time and resources that God has given. It is clear from Leviticus 18 that America and Canada are both on fire. It is clear from other Scriptures that this fire can be put out. The question is, what are we doing to extinguish the fire? Let's pray.