Well, I want you to open your Bibles tonight to the book of Hosea, chapter 2, if you would please. Hosea, chapter 2. There's a lot of ground to cover tonight, so I trust that you will have your fingers ready to turn in the Scriptures. Hosea, chapter 2. I'm going to be bringing a message tonight which is entitled, A Door of Hope. So if you'll look in Hosea, chapter 2, and verse 15. This is the only verse we're going to read in Hosea 2. And we're going to take the rest of the time tonight explaining it. Hosea 2 verse 15. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Acre for a door of hope. And she shall sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. Now notice what God is promising to Israel. He is promising her a door of hope. And he says, through this door of hope, she shall sing there as in her days of youth and as the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. Now, when you begin to think about hope, everyone needs hope. Those who are sick need hope. Those who are discouraged need hope. Those who are hunters need hope. Fishermen need hope, and that's what keeps them going back. They hope they're going to catch the big one or shoot the big buck. But, you know, there's the old saying that hope springs eternal in the breast. And when you and I look around and see what is going on today, Very definitely, I think we do need some hope. Because everyone who has any grasp of the situation in our land today, anyone who views the depravity, the wickedness, the vileness of our nation, ask themselves, what in the world is going to happen? Intuitively, each of us understand that we cannot keep going as we are in this country. We live in a day where 40 million babies have been aborted and murdered. We live in a day where the divorce rate is 50% even among professing Christians. We live in a day where socialism, Marxism, and communism abound. Where sodomy is not only approved and condoned, it is legalized. We have a judicial system that is out of control. We have a Congress that is corrupt and does not care for the people or the Constitution. We have an executive branch that does basically as it pleases. We're living in a day when God is denied, when His law is trampled underfoot, when righteousness and justice are mocked, and Christians are despised and persecuted. And we live in a day when seemingly we're almost It is almost impossible to stop the onslaught of the new world order. How do we escape? What is our hope? The truth is God has called us as Christians to exercise dominion and we failed. I have two messages back there on the biblical doctrine of dominion. In Genesis 1, when God created Adam and Eve, He gave them dominion over everything. He repeated that promise to Noah. and that command in Genesis chapter 9. It's then repeated again in Psalm 8. And when you get to Matthew 28, which is the Great Commission there, the Great Commission is part and parcel of the command to exercise dominion. Do you realize the word dominion, just the word dominion itself, occurs 62 times in our Bibles? That does not count the variation of the word. That's just the word dominion. There are some people that will deny that we've been called to exercise dominion, but you've got to believe something about the doctrine because the very word occurs 62 times in the Bible. Moreover, the Bible tells us in Luke chapter 19 and verse 13, our Lord said, occupy till I come. And the word occupy literally means to do business, to keep doing trade. Whatever the word occupy means, it does not mean to sit idly by and do nothing. When you look around and ask, have we failed in this country as Christians? The answer is yes. Even our Lord told us that we're to be the salt of the earth. One of the attributes of salt is it preserves. Let me ask you this question. What have we preserved? And the answer is basically nothing. You look around at Christians, and I'm talking about professing Christians. I know not everybody who professes is a possessor, I understand that. But do you realize that most Christians as a whole are divisive, vindictive, uncooperative, and unwilling to be involved in anything unless they have control over it. Most preachers are like that too. As long as they can be in charge, they're willing to do it. But if they can't run it, and if it can't be done according to what they want, then they're not going to have any part of it. You say, but Brother Weaver, we've got the Patriots in this country. Well, let me tell you, many of the so-called Patriots are even worse. Because if you do not follow their plan, if you do not follow their thoughts and their ideas, then you're either labeled as an enemy or double agent. You know, that's the truth. The patriot community is just as fractured and just as divided as Christianity. Many people sit back and say, well, pastor, you know, the Lord told us that, uh, in the last days that evil men would wax worse and worse, and there's nothing we can do about it. So we might as well just sit back and wait for the Lord's return. Well, you know, that's a wonderful thought, but I've got several questions on that. Uh, do we sit back the way those five foolish virgins did in Matthew 25 and verse eight with our lamps going out? Do we sit back the way that unjust steward did in Luke 12 and verse 45 who began to be drunk and disobedient and beat those around him? Do we sit back the way that rich, foolish farmer did in Luke chapter 12 who accumulated everything and then died without ever enjoying it? When the Bible tells us to wait upon the Lord, and there is a biblical doctrine of waiting on the Lord, and I've preached on that, but let me tell you something. When the Bible tells us to wait upon the Lord, it does not mean sit back and do absolutely nothing. Now, the Bible tells us that God has given us a door of hope. You say, I know what that door of hope is, Brother Weaver. The door of hope is the return of our Lord. Well, let me just put it like this. I believe in the personal, visible, bodily return of Jesus Christ. I believe that. I believe He's coming back personally, literally, and visibly. But here is my question. Must we wait until He returns? until things can be straightened out in any degree at all? I understand, folks, and I can show you the Scripture. You can quote the Scripture as well as I can, but I can show you the Scripture where when our Lord returns, it is true that He will write everything perfectly. And the Bible tells us in 1 John 3 and verse 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, or we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in himself purifies Himself, even as He is pure. I know that Jesus Christ is the perfect answer, and I know that when He returns, He will straighten out everything perfectly and completely. But my question is, what about right now in time and in history? Do we have to wait until our Lord returns before there's any remediation or restoration? And the answer is no. If you look back in your Bibles to Hosea 2 and verse 15, look at it. Our Lord says that I will give her, and He's talking about Israel, I will give her her vineyards from thence and the valley of Acre for a door of hope. And she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. In other words, He's going to restore to His people their joy, their happiness, their blessings, their dominion. So God has promised now a door of hope. What is a door of hope? A door of hope is a door of restoration and a door of blessings. It is the entrance into the will and the blessing of God. But I want you to note particularly in verse 15, he said, and he's going to give her the Valley of Acre for a door of hope. Now, if you understand what the door of hope is, you have to understand what the Valley of Acre is. because it was the Valley of Acre that was given as a door of hope. Now, I want you to hold Hosea chapter 2, but look in your Bibles, if you would, please, to the book of Isaiah 65. And let me just show you a passage that mentions Acre, the Valley of Acre. Notice Isaiah 65, and let's begin reading there in verse 9. We'll read through verse 15. Isaiah nine, Isaiah 65, beginning with verse nine, God says, and I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah and inherit of my mountains and mine elect shall inherit it. And my servant shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks and the valley of a core, a place for the herds to lie down in for my people that have sought me. Then he talks to some others, he says, but you are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, that is for idols, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you did not answer. when I spake you did not hear, but did evil before mine eyes, and did not choose that wherein I, or did choose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, my servant shall eat, but you shall be hungry. Behold, my servant shall drink, but you shall be thirsty. Behold, my servant shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. Behold, my servant shall sing for joy of heart, but you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit, and you shall leave and you shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen, for the Lord God shall slay thee and call his servants by another name." Now there are several things I could point out right here according to Isaiah 65. If you look in verse 9, first of all, God says there is an elect, there is a remnant. He said, I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah and inherit it in my mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it. Let me tell you something, folks. I do not care how perverse, how wicked, how corrupt professing Christendom comes, God still has His seed. He still has His chosen, His elect, and they are going to be His. I don't care how many apostatize. He's got His people, period. Notice if you would in verse 10. He tells us that Acre is a fat pasture in which herds lie down. He said, And Sharon shall be a fold of the flocks, and the valley of Acre a place for the herds to lie down in, for My people that have sought Me. Now, I was raised on a farm. I still live on a farm. I have cattle. And I can tell you one thing about cattle. They don't lie down until they're full. Once you see them lying down, you know they're full. He said here is this fat pasture in which folks are going to lie down in. And then he noticed in verse 10 also he says that Sharon and Achor are promised blessings to whom? To my people who have sought me. And then number four, verses 11 through 15 there, those who do not seek the Lord are going to be destroyed. They're going to be judged. That's why he says in verse 11, but ye are they that forsake the Lord. And then he goes on down and says that he's going to slay them because of their wickedness. So here in Isaiah 65, we have a mention then of this Valley of Acre. Do you remember the passage in the Song of Solomon chapter 2 and verse 1 where Christ is called the Rose of Sharon and He's also called the Lily of the Valleys? Have you ever wondered what Christ has to do with valleys? Have you ever even thought of what valleys are? a representative of as you read through the Word of God. Now, it is true that Jesus Christ is Lord of the valleys just like He is Lord of the mountains. But let me tell you something, when you read about a valley in the Bible, you're reading about judgment. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Joel, turn right over, Hosea, Amos, Joel. And look in the book of Joel chapter 3. It's Hosea, Joel, Amos. Got it backwards. Hosea, Joel, Amos. Look in Joel chapter 3, if you would please, and verse 14. Here's a passage that many of you have heard preachers preach from a great many times. multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." And usually when you hear Preachers preach from this text, they're talking about here are people that are undecided for Christ and what they need to do is make their decision right now to come to Christ. And let me tell you something, verse 14 has nothing to do with conversion and it has nothing to do with individuals making decisions for Christ. If you read this in the context It has everything to do with judgment. Look in verse 13. What does God say? Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is right. Come get you down, for the press is full, the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision. And by the way, the word for decision there is actually a sharp threshing instrument, which can be used to slay, multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision, for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision or judgment. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining, and the Lord also shall roar out of Zion and utter His voice from Jerusalem, and the earth and the heavens and the earth shall shake. but the Lord will be the hope of His people and the strength of the children of Israel. So when he's talking about multitudes in the valley of decision, he's talking about multitudes that's about to be judged and destroyed by the power of God. Now you know something about a valley. Now God says, I've given you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. Now you've got to find out what this valley of Achor is. So if you'll turn back in your Bibles to 1 Chronicles chapter 2, And look, if you would please, at verse 7. 1 Chronicles, chapter 2, and verse 7. Watch carefully. Everyone is going to remember this name in just a moment. 1 Chronicles, chapter 2, and verse 7. Here he names the sons of Carmi, and he says in verse 7, and the sons of Carmi, Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed and the things accursed." Now you probably already understand that the word Achar or Achor is the same as Achin. So the valley of Achor is the valley of Achin. And Achan is here called the Troubler of Israel. Why? Because he transgressed in the thing accursed. Now if you want to understand the background, go back in your Bibles, first of all to Joshua chapter 6. and then we'll look at chapter 7. But look in chapter 6 of Joshua and especially verses 17 and 18. You will remember how the children of Israel now have come to Jericho and everything in Jericho is cursed. The only ones to escape are to be Rahab and her family. God says that His people, as they destroy Jericho, they're to touch nothing. They're to take nothing for themselves. Everything is dedicated to judgment. So look at it. In the book of Joshua 6, verse 17, And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hath the messengers that we sent. And you, said God, and any wise, keep yourselves from the accursed thing, lest you make yourselves a curse when you take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it. But all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and irons are consecrated in the Lord. They shall come into the treasure of the Lord." So he says, don't touch anything. Anything that you find of value, it comes to me. Everything else is to be destroyed. Now, look in Joshua chapter 7 beginning with verse 1. Follow, please. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. You know, I find this very interesting, and I don't have time to preach on this tonight, but it was the children of Israel who committed a trespass, but it was Achan who did it. One man, one man and his sin brought destruction upon the nation. Now look at it. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing. For Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdai, the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel. And Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is beside Bethaven on the east side of Bethel. and spake unto them, saying, Go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed Ai. And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai. And make not all the people to labor thither, for they are but few. So there went up thither of the people about three thousand men, and they fled before the men of Ai. And the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men, for they chased them from the gate even into Shebarim, and smote them into going down. Wherefore, the hearts of the people melted, and became as water. And Joshua ran his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the even tide. He and the elders of Israel, he put dust upon their, and they put dust upon their heads. And Joshua said, alas, O Lord God, wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us? Would to God that we'd been content and dwelt on the other side, Jordan. O Lord, what shall I say when Israel turneth their back before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it and shall environ us round and cut off our name from the earth. And what will thou do unto thy great name? Watch. And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up. Wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant, which I have commanded them. For they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and assembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed. Neither will I be with you any more. except you destroy the accursed from among you. Now let's stop right there. You know what happened. The tribes are taken and one tribe was selected. The families were taken and one family was selected, the family of Carming. And when Achan came in front, Achan was taken. And Joshua said, My son, give glory to the Lord. Tell me now what you've done. And if you'll skip down to verse 20. And Achan answered Joshua and said, Indeed, I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done. When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight, then I coveted them and took them. And behold, they're hidden in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it. So Joshua sent messengers, and they ran into the tent, and behold, it was hidden, the tent and the silver under it. Watch, if you would please, down to verse 24. And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan, the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment, and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his asses, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had, and they brought them to the valley of Achor, And Joshua said, why hast thou troubled us? The Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire after they had stoned them with stones. And they raised up over him a great heap of stones unto this day, so that the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore, the name of that place was called the Valley of Achor unto this day. Now let me just point out the fact that when Achan had stolen and hid all of this under his tent, without anyone else knowing it. The men came to Joshua and said, look, we've spied out Ai. It's a small city. Don't make all of God's men go up there and work. We don't need everybody. Just send a couple thousand of us. We can take care of them very easily. And so he sends 3,000 up there and guess what? They get defeated and they flee before the men of Ai and 36 Israelite soldiers are killed. Now it's bad when you're defeated. It's worse when your men are slaughtered. But let me tell you, the defeat of Israel was not the bad part. The loss of the 36 lives was not the worst part either. If you look back in your Bibles there to Joshua chapter 7, notice if you would please verse 12. He says, Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were cursed. And look what God says, Neither will I be with you any more, except you destroy the accursed from among you. God said, Joshua, you've lost it. I'm not going to be with you anymore. You are doomed to certain failure unless you deal with this thing right now. You know what the Valley of Acre was? The Valley of Acre was the doorway, it was the entrance to Canaan. And right as they were getting ready to go into the promised land, the door was slammed in their face. If they cannot defeat even a little tiny town, what hope do they have of defeating all of the enemies of the land? How could they continue? How could they proceed? How could they conquer? How could they exercise dominion? How could they go forward? God said, I'll tell you the answer. Sin must be dealt with. It must be judged. It must be dealt with openly, honestly, and biblically. When God says in Hosea 2 and verse 15, Behold, I give you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. You know what God is saying? God is saying, I'm giving you judgment for a door of hope. Jericho was just the beginning of the wars of Canaan. And their putting away this accursed thing from them gave them hope that God now would be with them, that God would give them victory, that God would enable them to exercise dominion, and that God would return to them in mercy since they have now turned to Him in obedience. And so then it is a beginning of restoration. What is the door of hope? The door of hope is when we honestly deal with our sins before God. Let me point something out. Do you realize the sin that really genuinely troubles you is not the sin that's going to overthrow you. The sin that's going to overthrow you is the one that you commit and you're never bothered by it. If you're getting troubled over it, then there's hope for you. Do you realize it's one of the greatest mercies of God that He exposes our sins? When you stop and think about our sins, You talk about how embarrassed we are, how humiliated we are. I mean, it's not that we just did something, but we got caught. Let me tell you something. The greatest mercy of God. That God can give us. is when God points out our sins and exposes those sins and even make them public if necessary. Do you remember old Nathan? the prophet who went to David after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and had Uriah her husband killed? Do you remember it was Nathan who went and told David this story about the rich man and all that he had and the poor man and the one little sheep? And the rich man spared to take of his flock, and he took this one little sheep that the poor man had. And boy, David's sense of justice was upset, and he slapped his hand. He said, The man that hath done this thing will restore fourfold, and he shall surely die. And old Nathan said, Thou art the man. And when you read 1 Samuel 12 and verse 1, it says this. Are you listening? And the Lord sent Nathan to David. You know what David had done? David had taken pains to cover up his sin. He tried to get Uriah to sleep with his wife, but Uriah wouldn't. He made him drunk! He still wouldn't. And when Uriah wouldn't cooperate, David had him killed. He thought he had everything covered. No one knew except maybe Joab. But the Lord knew. And the Lord sent Nathan to David. One of the greatest mercies that God can have upon us is when He exposes our sin. And let me just tell you this, folks. I believe that this is one of the greatest problems we have in our families and raising our children. Each of us love our children. We would die for our children. But when our children do wrong, they have to learn a principle. And the principle is this, he who sins must suffer. You know what we do when our children get in trouble? We quickly run to bail them out. Oh no. You know what our children have to learn? That there are consequences to everything you do. Sometimes when your kid gets thrown in jail, it might be wise to let him stay in overnight. Let him reap what he's sown just a little bit. Let him find out what it's like to be thrown into a cell with a bunch of drunks who stink and vomit everywhere. Don't buy him off. And if he has to pay a fine, let him work it out. Let him work and pay for it himself. Don't try to keep him from suffering. You see, here's the problem. We're horrified at judgment. How many in this room really, truly want to suffer? None of us. We don't want to suffer. And when we think of judgment, especially the judgment of God, man, we cringe. We don't want that. Let me ask you a question. What would be your response if God brought down this economy tomorrow and he could overnight? Well, Federal Reserve notes worth nothing as it is. It has no value. What would be your response? What would be your response if you happen to have a awakened in the morning and found out that some virus had gotten loose in the White House and killed 398 congressmen. At least we got one or two there that need to live. But, you know, what would be your response? You just stop and think about that. Would you say, oh, that's a catastrophe. What a horrible thing. What if half the cities in this country were burned to the ground? You say, Brother Weaver, that's a horrible thing. Oh, is it? What did God say? I've given you the valley of Achor for a door of hope. You know what happened to Achan and his family? They were put to death. You say, Brother Weaver, I don't understand Achan being put to death, but his family, evidently they were complicit with him. They knew about it. And you've got to remember this. His family was responsible for the death of 36 soldiers. Let me put it to you like this, it was judgment, God's righteous judgment upon Achan and his family that brought deliverance and blessing to the rest of the nation. Are you thinking with me? It was judgment, God's righteous judgment that destroyed the old world but saved Noah and his family alive. It was judgment, God's righteous judgment that destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and spared Lot. It was judgment, God's righteous judgment that destroyed the enemies of Canaan and over and over delivered His people. It was judgment, God's righteous judgment that destroyed Babylon and Assyria and delivered His people again. You know what we have forgotten? That destruction, judgment, and deliverance go together. They're the two sides of one coin. Let me say it another way. You cannot have salvation without having judgment. Salvation and judgment go together. Whenever God judges His enemies, He always delivers His people. Whenever God delivers His people, He always judges His enemies. You cannot have salvation without judgment. You say, oh, come on, Brother Weaver. I mean, I've got salvation in Christ. Well, look in your Bibles to Romans chapter 3. You want to think for just a moment about the salvation that God has provided? Look in Romans chapter 3, beginning there in verse 24. Romans 3 verse 24. Romans 3. Verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So we're talking about Jesus Christ. Verse 25, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God. Now let's stop there. whom God has set forth to be a propitiation." You say, Brother Weaver, I can't even say that word and I certainly don't know what it means. Well, you need to learn because it occurs over and over in Scripture. It occurs at least a couple of other times. You know what the word propitiation means? It means to placate, to appease, to satisfy. Now look what the Bible says. Watch this. Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth, talking about Christ, to placate, to appease, to satisfy, through faith in His blood. What in the world are we talking about? God was angry with us. Why? We were sinners. We were wicked. We were rebellious. We deserve death. We deserve judgment. We deserve hell. We deserve everything that God could throw upon us. But Jesus Christ stepped in and said, I will be the substitute. I will be their representative. And Jesus Christ came in perfect obedience to the law. He worked out a perfect righteousness. And then He came in our place. And guess what? The wrath and the anger of God that should have fallen upon us fell upon Him. and in His obedience and in His death, He placated and satisfied the holiness and the righteousness of God. The only salvation we have in Jesus Christ is a salvation through judgment. You cannot have salvation without judgment. You say, but Brother Weaver, you know, I don't like to talk about judgment. And I get scared. All I know to do is just pray for the Lord's return. Turn in your Bibles, please, to 2 Thessalonians 2. I don't want you to get pietistic with me now. Okay? Because when you start praying for the Lord's return, I want to show you exactly what you're praying for. Look in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1. I can quote it, but I want you to look at it. 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 1, watch it now. Or 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, I'm sorry, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1 and verse 7. And you who are troubled, rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Notice what he said. And you who are troubled rest with us when our Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels. What? Inflaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. You cannot even pray for the Lord's return without praying for judgment. Salvation and judgment go together. What is the door of hope? The door of hope is the door of judgment, God's righteous judgment. Psalm 9 and verse 16 tells us, the Lord is known by the judgment which He executed. The wicked is snared in the work of His own hands. Psalm 37 and verse 28 declares, For the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaken not His saints, they are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. For the Lord loveth judgment, that is, He loveth justice. Just read the book of Ezekiel. Do you realize, in the book of Ezekiel, you will find a phrase, and that phrase is this, And they shall know that I am the Lord. That phrase occurs 73 times in the book of Ezekiel. And in each time it occurs, it occurs in the context of judgment. 73 times God said, they shall know that I am the Lord. And each time it's in the context of judgment. Let me tell you something, folks. We may not get the wicked to listen to our voice as we preach the gospel. But they will hear when God sends judgment. Now that doesn't mean they're going to be converted. But at least it will get their attention. Let me show you something. Look in your Bibles to the book of Revelation chapter 9. And the principle I want to point out is this. You see, God may do one of two things. God may send judgment along with converting grace. Okay? He doesn't have to. He may just send judgment. But if God just sends judgment without converting grace, all men will do is know that it's God's judgment, but yet they'll curse Him for it. So look in Revelation 9, beginning there in verse 20. The Bible says, And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the work of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." So here were people who were judged grievously, and yet they repented not. Let me tell you something, if God sends judgment, Without converting grace, all you have is destruction. Let me ask you a question. How can we turn this country around? The truth of the matter is we cannot. But God can. And God doesn't have to send an atomic bomb. God doesn't have to use a militia. God doesn't have to use an armed force. All God has to do is send a few germs around, little bacteria. Anybody ever heard of that flesh eating virus? You can get it if you've got a paper cut. Can you imagine? All God has to do is send an angel. I sure don't want an angel to get mad at me. One angel in one night with one stroke killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Can you imagine what a whole platoon of them could do? I'm just simply pointing out the fact judgment is a door of hope. Now, let me just lay these things out for you tonight, and I want you to think about it. In light of this truth that God has given us the valley of Acre for a door of hope, he's talking about judgment. And folks, if you believe somehow that God is going to overlook and excuse the wickedness of this country, you're mistaken. What is our responsibility? First, we must be children of faith. What do I mean by that? We know that God is absolutely and totally sovereign. He is in control. What does that mean? It means this, we cannot give in, we cannot give up, and we cannot give out. We cannot give way to discouragement, to depression, to despair. Why should we? We are His children. He is on the throne. He is in control. We must believe that He does all things well and whatever He does, He does for our good and for His glory. We can never, ever be discouraged. Who was it? The General? was a chesty puller who, they said, General, the enemy's in front of us and behind us and on each side of us. General Puller said, good, they can't get away from us now. Hey, why should we be discouraged with God on the throne? If you don't know that God is sovereign, you better wake up. The one thing that will keep a child of God going is he knows that God is in absolute control. Secondly, we must understand and believe that God does, listen, that God does and will judge the wicked in time and in history. I want you to look in your Bibles to Proverbs 11 and verse 31. Proverbs 11 and verse 31. We must believe that God does and will judge the wicked in time and in history. Look what he says in Proverbs 11 and verse 31. Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner. Now let me stop right there and ask you a question. Will we be rewarded in glory? Yes. Are there eternal rewards? Yes. I don't deny that. I'm thankful for that. But let me ask it like this. Do we have to wait until we get to glory before we have any of the blessings of God? No. All you've got to do is read Leviticus 26, read Deuteronomy 28, read any other passage in the Bible, and God has always promised blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. Look what He said, Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth. God is not going to be any man's debtor. You honor God, He's going to honor you. How many of you have already been blessed? Look, you've got your health, you've got a family, you've got finances, you've got friends, you've got a ministry. Look at all the blessings that God has given us. Now look at the rest of the verse. He says, Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed of the earth. And then he says, Much more the wicked and the sinner. Now God says, If I reward my people, on the earth in time and in history, how much more will I give the wicked what they deserve?" Hmm. What's he say? He said, I will reward them as well. You know what the Bible says in Job 19 verse 29? Let me just quote it. In Job 19 verse 29, God says, be afraid of the sword, For wrath bringeth the punishments of the sword, that you may know that there is a judgment to come." Now, what is he saying? He is saying all the temporal judgments on earth in time and in history just point to the one great and final judgment. Being afraid of the sword, why? For wrath bringeth the sword, why? That you may know that there is a judgment to come. Let me ask you a question. I do want you to turn to Deuteronomy 7 because I want to show you this. This excites me. It may not excite you, but it does excite me. I get to thinking of all these rich, powerful reprobates who think they're running the world and that everybody has to jump at their command, and they're anti-God, anti-Christ, anti-Bible, anti-Christian. They're against anything that's righteous and holy and godly. And here's my question. Will God judge them? The answer is yes. Will God judge them in time and in history? Yes, as well as eternity. Do you think God is embarrassed to judge them? Do you think God is reticent? Look in Deuteronomy chapter 7, if you would, beginning there, verse 9. Look what the Bible says. Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him, and keepeth His commandments to a thousand generations, and repayeth them that hate Him to their face, to destroy them. He will not be slack to him that hateth Him. He will repay him to his face. God's not embarrassed to judge the wicked. He's not slack. We must be children of faith, but we also must understand that God does judge the wicked in time and in history. Turn in your Bibles, please, to Luke 18, because here's the third application tonight. Look in Luke chapter 18. I want to show you where we have failed as Christians. Luke 18. Here's the third application. If you understand that we must be children of faith, and if you understand that God does indeed judge the wicked in time and history, the third application is this. We as God's children must learn to pray for God's judgment in time and in history. What? Yes. Look in Luke 18 verse 1, And he, that is our Lord, spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray and to faint not, or not to faint, saying, There was in a city a judge who feared not God, neither regarded man. So he broke both tables, the first and the second table of the Ten Commandments. He feared not God, neither regarded man. And there was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me, mine adversary. And he would not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. Now stop there just for a moment. Here's the picture. Here's this unjust judge, and we could illustrate him by thousands in this country, who feared not God nor regarded man. And this little widow woman kept saying, avenge me and my adversary. I'm not going to do it. Get out of here. I don't care about you. I don't care about you. Get out of my courtroom. And she keeps coming. And she keeps coming. And finally, the judge said, I'm going to have to do something. I'm going to give her what she wants, lest she weary me with her continual coming. Now I want you to see the application that our Lord made. I didn't make this, He did. Look at it in verse 6. And the Lord said, hear what the unjust judge saith. Now look at it, and shall not God avenge His own elect who cried day and night unto Him, though He bear long with them? I tell you, He will avenge them speedily. Here's my question. Do you think God is like that unjust judge? Do you think God cares nothing of justice, of righteousness? No. God is more interested in justice and more interested in righteousness than we are. He said, did you hear what He said? And shall not God avenge His own enemy? Who cried on Him day and night? How many of us have cried for God to execute justice? How many of us ask God to send His judgment? You need to read the imprecatory prayers in the Bible. I don't have time to go through all of them. But Psalm 59 is a wonderful one. Psalm 58 is another good one. Psalm 68. Look at Psalm 68. Let me just give you an example of what David prayed. Here's an imprecatory prayer. Look in Psalm 68 if you would. Beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 68. Verse 1, David says, let God arise. That's what I'd like to see. Let God arise. What's going to happen when God arises? Let His enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melted before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. What's he praying for? the destruction and the overthrow of the wicked. That's what he's praying for. It's an imprecatory prayer. We've got to learn to pray, Lord God, send your justice. Send your judgment. God, do something. We're so tired of what's going on. We're so helpless. Lord, do something. That's what those imprecatory prayers are for. Fourthly, we must learn to repent of our sins and live holy, godly lives. Now let me tell you, and I don't have time to go through it tonight, but if you were to read Hebrews chapter 12 and 1 Corinthians chapter 11, especially verses 31 through 32, you will find that God does chastise His own. He said, He scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? If you are a child of God and you sin, God's going to chastise you. That's all there is to it. You may either obey by listening to His Word or you may obey by listening to His Word and His rod. Micah 6 and verse 9 says, Hear ye the rod and him who hath appointed it. I told some of the men today at dinner, my youngest grandson who's now 15, when he was about 7 or 8, I asked him to do something. And he looked at me and he said, Papa, I don't want to do it. And I said, I respect that. I said, so therefore I'll give you a choice. You may either do it, or you may get a whipping and do it. He looked at me and said, Papa, I think I'll just do it. I said, I think you're a wise son. The wise son just listens. You know what the Bible says? In 1 Peter 4 and verse 17, you can quote it, I'm sure. The time has come that judgment must first begin where? At the house of God. You know what praying for God's judgment and God's justice will do? If you honestly, genuinely pray for God's judgment, two things are going to happen. Number one, it's going to make you more diligent to warn the wicked because you know that it's coming. And number two, it's going to make you live more holily and godly because you understand God's no respecter of persons. You mess up, God will whip you. He can clean your plow just like He can clean everybody else's plow. So we need to learn to live holy, godly lives. Fifthly, we need to learn that judgment is a door of hope. Let me say it like this. Judgment is not our enemy. Judgment is our friend. It is. You don't have to be afraid of your friend. Kevin's bigger than I am, but I'm not afraid of him. I'm not only out running, I might shoot him. I'm not afraid of him. He's my friend. I'm not afraid of Greg. He's my friend. Now, the point I'm trying to make is this. No one loves to suffer. Well, let me ask you a question. If you had cancer, and you knew you had cancer, and there was a doctor who could cut it out and save your life, as much as you despise the pain of surgery and the experience of surgery, would you not willingly undergo that surgery in order to save your life? Sure you would. You would have that cancer cut out and a heart beat. You know something, folks? We've got to understand that our government is not going to save us. As much as I respect our Constitution, the Constitution is not going to save us. We cannot save ourselves. The truth is, if God doesn't save us, we're not going to be saved. And if God does not, in His righteous judgment, straighten this nation out, we'll never be straightened out. Now let me show you. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Exodus. The book of Exodus chapter 5. I want you to watch this because to me this is so exciting. Everybody knows this story how God has sent Moses down to Egypt to Pharaoh and said, thus saith the Lord, let my people go. You remember that? You remember what Pharaoh said? I know not the Lord. Neither will I let Israel go. I don't recognize your God, Moses. I don't recognize your authority. And I'm not about to obey him or you." Well, you know what happened next? Even the elders of the children of Israel went in and said, let us go that we may serve the Lord. You know what Pharaoh said? You're idle. You're idle. You're going to make the same number of brick, but you're going to make them out of straw, and if you don't, my taskmasters are going to beat you. Well, look at it. Let's pick it up right here. Look in Exodus chapter 5, and let's begin reading there with verse... 15. Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants? There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say, Let us make brick. And, behold, thy servants are beaten, but the fault is in thine own people. But he said, You are idle, you are idle. Therefore you say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the Lord. Go therefore now and work, for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall you deliver the tale of bricks. And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in an evil case, After it was said, you shall not minish aught from your bricks of your daily tasks. Now look, and they met Moses and Aaron who stood in the way as they came forth from Pharaoh. Now Moses and Aaron had already tried to get Pharaoh to let them go. No, he said. And they said unto them, to Moses and Aaron, the Lord look upon you and judge, because you've made our saver to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us. And Moses returned to the Lord and said, Lord, Wherefore hast thou so evil and treated this people? Why is it that thou hast sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he had done evil to this people, neither hast thou delivered thy people at all." Now let me show you what happened. Moses and Aaron have come and said, let God's people go. Pharaoh said, I don't know you and I don't know the Lord and I'm not about to let them go. The elders came and said, let us go. No, you're not going to go. And you're going to make the same brick, but you're going to make it without straw, and if you don't, you're going to be beaten. And finally, those elders see Moses there, and they said, the Lord looked between you and us, and judge, you said you were to deliver. All you've done is made things worse. You put a sword in their hand to slay us. The problem's with you, Moses. And Moses falls down and said, God, why did you even send me? You hadn't delivered your people. Why am I here? Now don't you look what happened. God has Moses and Aaron helpless. God has the elders helpless. God has the people helpless. Now look in chapter 6 in verse 1. Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh. Now shalt thou see what I will do with Pharaoh, for with a strong hand he shall let them go with a strong hand. He shall drive them out of his land. God said, when I get through with him, he'll be more than willing to let him go. But you know just what had to happen? Moses and Aaron and the elders and the people had to come to an end of themselves. They had to learn they can't. That doesn't mean that we do not fulfill our responsibilities. We must learn to be obedient and faithful regardless of the circumstances. I'm not to look at what's going on in Washington and get all scared and upset. I'm not to look at what's going on somewhere else and get all bent out of shape. No, no, no. My eyes are upon the Lord and upon His Word. And He said, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord. And what else did He say? If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face." And what? And turn from their wicked ways. Then will I hear from heaven and heal their land. He didn't say if the wicked would do it, he said if my people would do it. Let me tell you something, folks. There is no reason for anybody to be discouraged when God is on the throne. And there's no reason for any child of God to be afraid of judgment. For judgment is a door of hope. God can do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. And it's our responsibility to cry unto the Lord, saying, avenge your own elect. Avenge your people, O God. Give justice. give justice. There's a song, and I can't sing, but I love to hear it sung. And I don't even know the name of it. But the chorus goes like this, I want to see Israel marching. I want to hear that battle call. I want to see Israel marching. I want to see old Babylon fall. And brother, let me tell you, I want to see it fall. And it shall fall. It shall fall. For only the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is going to endure forever. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. God said, I've given you a door of hope. That door of hope is judgment. One last passage. Look in your Bibles to Psalm 44. Psalm 44. I could preach another hour just on this passage, but look at it, please. And we'll close with this one. But look in Psalm 44. I love this passage. The psalmist says in verse one, we have heard with our ears, O God, our fathers have told us what worked out instant in their days and times of old. In other words, we've heard about all of your miracles. We've heard about all your deliverances. Verse 2, How thou didst drive out the heathen with thy hand, and plantest them, and thou didst afflict the people, that is the enemies, and cast them out. For they, Israel, got not the land in possession by their sword, although they had to fight. Neither did their own arm save them, but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, because thou hast a favor unto them. Now watch what he said. Lord, we've heard with our ears. Our fathers have told us, we know what you did. We know the mighty deliverance that you gave in times past. We've heard it over and over and over. We repeated it and we've heard it repeated. We know that. But when you get to verse 4, here's what he says, Thou art my King, O God. Command deliverance is for Jacob. Let me tell you what he's saying there. Do it again, oh Lord. Do it again. You're the same sovereign God of miracles and power that we've been hearing about all of our lives. You're still the God who's on the throne. Lord, command thou deliverances for Jacob. Do it again! And God can do it again. Our hope is in Him. in His mercy, in His grace, and in His judgment. Let's pray. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ that You would speak to us. Help us to understand the simple principle that You've given us the Valley of Acre for a door of hope. As individuals, as families, as churches, Even as a nation, we must deal honestly and openly with our sins. We must repent of them and turn to Thee and seek Thy mercy and Thy forgiveness. Give us, Lord, Thy justice and Thy judgment, for in that we shall find deliverance by Your grace. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.