In the sixth chapter of Unless You Repent titled, “The Punishment and Misery of Wicked Men”, Jonathan Edwards describes the calamity for the sinner who lives to an old age. Better for him to have died at the age of 20, than the age of 60, for that is an additional 40 years’ worth of sins (or an additional 146,000 crimes per our example above) that one will bear the penalty for (and in varying degrees of intensity per crime). It would be more soothing to experience an eternity of having your teeth pulled one by one without anesthesia than to bear the minimum eternal penalty of a single crime against God. How much more dreadful will it be to pay for a lifetime’s worth of sins. If you shall die in your sins, ’tis better to die at an early age than to continue to store up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath.

Oh that you would heed the warnings of that Great Awakening preacher and come to your senses:

Sinners are little sensible that hellfire grows hotter every day they live in sin; by their sins, they increase the heat of that furnace more than the heat of Nebuchadnezzar’s was increased for the three children. If they go on in sin therefore till they die, it is no advantage to ‘em to live long; the sooner they die the better for them. If they should live twenty years longer and then die in sin it would be a great Calamity to them that they lived so long. Many who go on in sin and have no serious thought of reforming are yet desirous of living a great while in the world; they don’t love the thoughts of dying quickly, but they act inconsistent with themselves. If they go on in sin they had better die early than late; if you should die this year in sin you will wish that you had died last year, for it will be inconceivably dreadful to you to bear the punishment of a year’s sinning. None can imagine how great an addition of misery there will be to you for a year’s sins; for the sins of one day are more than you can bear the punishment of. Oh, how you will wish, therefore, that you had died not one year, but many years before you did.

Hence we learn how dreadful a thing it is to die an old sinner, to have forty or fifty or sixty years’ sins to answer for. How dreadful will their hell be, how great will be the weight of wrath upon their souls, when every sinful thought, every sinful word and every sinful act that they have committed in all that time, will be required of them, and they must pay the uttermost farthing. It shall be required of them that they stood out against the calls of the gospel, the calls of Jesus Christ, and the offers of mercy for so long a time (p. 79-80).

If you’ve read this warning but continue to reject God’s mercy, hell will be that much hotter for you. Repent, oh sinner, repent!

Psalm 2:7-9: …’You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’

A couple of weeks ago I embarked on an expositional journey through Revelation with John MacArthur. I discovered his sermon volumes by book of Scripture on the Grace to You Android app and was excited to dig in to this most glorious book of the Bible revealing the exalted and glorified Christ Jesus. Last week I listened through the second part of Thyatira: The Church That Tolerates Sin, and was greatly encouraged in MacArthur’s teaching of Revelation 2:26-27 on the faithful overcomers of this church and how they, we, will rule the nations with Christ during the Millennium Kingdom.

I understand some of the readers of this blog may not hold to a pre-Millennial view of the Kingdom, but I hope  a careful study of this verse will give you something to consider.  The text reads:

He who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father

Who will Christians have authority over, why would they need to rule them with a rod of iron, and shatter them as earthen vessels?

You can listen to the message in its entirety here. Here’s MacArthur:

Then finally, the counsel. And now He turns to the good folks there. I guess I kind of feel they must have been in the minority or they would have overruled the rest. Certainly if it was a Baptist church they could have voted the woman out. Verse 26, “And he who overcomes and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to Him I’ll give authority over the nations and he’ll shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces as I also have received authority from My Father and I will give him the morning star.”

There’s so much here, it’s so wonderful. As in the other letters, John closes with a word to the true Christians and it’s a word of promise. “And he who overcomes,” and I’m not going to reinterpret that every time, that just means a Christian, 1 John 5:5…1 John 5:5, “He that overcomes is the Christian.” “To the true Christian who overcomes the evil, who overcomes Satan, enduring to the end, John says our faith is that which overcomes, the one who believes is the overcome [sic]…1 John 5:5…and he who keeps My deeds, that means who obeys,” there’s two evidences of saving faith. Saving faith triumphs, it never abandons, you never lose it, you never give it up, you always overcome. No matter what comes against you, you never lose your faith, you continue to believe. Who is the one who overcomes the world? But he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and you overcome by believing, constant faith.

So, the true Christian has an unending faith and has a pattern of obedience. His faith is made manifest in his works. So to the true believer, He says, “I want to give you two things. First, to him I will give authority over the nations.” If you endure in constant faith and a pattern of obedience, to the end whatever end, the end of your life, or the time when Jesus comes, to the end, “I’ll give you authority over the nations.” Wow, what does that mean? I believe that that clearly can be understood one way, you’re going to reign with Christ in an earthly millennial kingdom. If you don’t have a millennium, this promise makes no sense. If you don’t believe in a thousand-year millennial kingdom, what in the world is He talking about? Because this is taken right out of Psalm 2. And Psalm 2 verse 7, “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord, He said to me, `Thou art My son, today I have begotten thee. Ask of Me and I’ll surely give the nations as thine inheritance and the very ends of the earth as thy possession.” You say, “Oh yeah, that’s in heaven, that’s in heaven…when we all get to heaven, when we all get to heaven.”

No it isn’t. The next verse, “Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron, thou shalt shatter them like earthenware.” And there isn’t going to be any nation full of people getting bashed around with a rod of iron or broken like a pot in heaven. It’s got to be on earth. It has to be a millennial kingdom, there isn’t any other explanation. And the first thing He says to them is, “You’ve had a lot of problem here and you’ve been beaten up, but when you get to the Kingdom you’re going to get to do some of the beating.” That’s what He’s saying. You’ve been hammered so get ready for your time to take your own hammer and sit on a throne and rule with Me.

You say, “Who gets…who gets hit with the rod of iron during the millennial kingdom?” The nations that come against God, the nations that fight against Christ, the rebellious wicked nations, the ones that would attack the sheep. You see, you even have here…you see that word there, “rule,” it’s the word poimaino, from poimen which is a shepherd. And what He is saying is I will shepherd them with a rod of iron. A shepherd has a rod but he always had a wooden rod, but Jesus says when I get to My kingdom My rod is going to be made out of iron. And what did the shepherd use the rod for? Many times the sheep would be being attacked by wolves or whatever wild animals and he would use the rod to smash that animal and fight that animal off who came to attack his sheep. And He says there’s coming a time in the kingdom when the nations of the world are going to move against Me and My people and I’m going to wield a rod of iron and I’m going to use that rod and I’m going to smash them like clay pots and you’re going to be there with Me, you’re going to be ruling with Me, protecting My people in the kingdom, protecting holiness and righteousness.

That’s the first promise, millennial participation. You’re going to be in My kingdom. You’re going to share that great time when the nations of the world are forced to bow the knee to Jesus Christ and He rules as King of kings and Lord and lords, when the whole curse is reversed, when the lion lies down the lamb, and the children can play with the poisonous snakes because they’re not longer poisonous, when the desert blossoms like a rose. In that great time when peace fills the earth and wisdom and knowledge of Christ and whatever rebel raises his ugly head, the rod of iron comes out and you’re going to be there shepherding with Me and using with Me that authority. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know how true Christians are going to do that but we’re going to be there as co-shepherds, in a sense, co-disciplinarians with our Lord.

And He took it right out of Psalm 2, this quote, “I’ll give authority over the nations and He shall rule them with a rod of iron as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father.” Jesus said, you remember, back in John 5 the Father has committed all judgment unto Me and He’s now saying to us…And I’m going to share that judgment with you as together we rule the nations of the world. There is no explanation for that other than a millennial kingdom. And we’ll be there….

Further Consideration: 

Satan Is Not Presently Bound

Why Every Calvinist Should Be a Pre-Millennialist

I haven’t always known I am an abolitionist. Frankly, I had never really considered the word and it was not a part of my vocabulary. This not until last summer when I learned of the movement, Abolish Human Abortion. Giving a full detailed history of how I became involved with AHA is not within the scope of this article, but suffice it to say I was encouraged by a lot of information I was learning about ‘abolitionism’, its history, and some of the methods used by modern abolitionists to defend the rights of the needy and helpless. AHA helped refine my thinking and understanding of the failure of pro-life incrementalism and how calling for the immediate abolition of all abortion without exceptions is the only solution. Ultimately, I bought the t-shirt (literally, t-shirts and other materials from the AHAgear website), and I subscribed to AHA’s five tenets of abolitionism. I became heavily involved to the point of building the website and writing most of the material for the Abolitionist Society of North Carolina. You may have even seen a letter floating around the internet serving to encourage pastors and churches to get into the fight to love our pre-born neighbors as ourselves through the abolition of child sacrifice  - yep, I wrote that. Read an article by Jahn Plesion? That was me. Sign a Whitehouse Petition to expose the hypocrisy of the Obama administration after his speech at the Sandy Hook memorial? You guessed it – I created it.

I don’t share this information to boast in anything I have built or published, but rather to shed light on my relationship with AHA specifically and my efforts to explain abolitionism in general (like here and here). I preempt my main objectives in this article with these facts so to reveal that I get abolitionism and I know AHA, so any attempt to discredit my understanding or malign my intentions will fall short and be invalid. I stand by most of my material in the above links in principle (though I have not gone back to review everything in detail), but perhaps I might rephrase some things that would possibly confuse my actual positions.

So to anticipate one objection, yes, I am still an abolitionist, but no, I no longer endorse or support AHA. I believe in the ideology, but there are methodologies being promoted and considered that preclude me from being associated with them anymore.

To be clear, I appreciate AHA’s zeal and compassion to be a voice for the voiceless and a shining light to those still in darkness (and what I mean by AHA is the founding AHA  organization, the Abolitionist Society of Oklahoma). Obviously (as one who helped start the AHANC page), I understand there are possibly hundreds of autonomous abolitionist societies around the nation, if not the world, but for the purpose of this article, I refer to AHA as those who began this movement in Norman, OK. In any case, AHA has done a lot of good to bring awareness to the American holocaust, and for that I am grateful. This is not a personal attack against any member of AHA, though I am sure some will take it very personally.

I know I’m getting long-winded, but one more thing before the main thrust of this article. I write it because I have been very public in my endorsement of AHA. For reasons known to God alone, He has put me in a position of influence in the online Christian community, and, by His grace alone, I am considered a leader in various aspects. But when a leader strays and leads others down the wrong path, he must bear responsibility to repair any damages in hopes those he influenced may see the dangers and get back on the right path. Not only do I bear this responsibility online, but also within my church family and personal friends whom are my cherished brothers and sisters in Christ. So my main reason for writing this article is for transparency about where I’ve been with AHA, and my decision to distance myself from the organization. I hope it clears up confusion where there was confusion, and opens the door for further discussion if necessary. Ultimately, every believer will need to decide for himself how they will continue their relationship with AHA.

I have participated in enough discussions and observed enough practices to determine I will no longer be continuing the conversation with AHA and those most deeply entrenched in the movement. If you have sincere questions or comments for discussion and we have not previously debated the issues, you are free to post a comment below.

Reason #1 why I no longer endorse AHA: “Church Repent Project”

One will hear various answers as to how AHA will call the church to repentance on her complacency to abortion. One common answer given is that the ‘project’ is still under consideration and development, yet we already see it in practice by AHA devotees. Most recently, Sarah Cleveland of the Abolitionist Society of Ohio demonstrated outside of the Vineyard Church of Columbus, and they eventually gave their response here. This is the modus operandi – to stand outside of churches with a variety of abortion-oriented signs (many of which I might agree with and hold myself, but not in front of churches). AHA claims they have the right to circumvent the God-given authority of the leadership of true churches and protest the congregation in hopes they will wake Christians up to the reality of abortion and get them to join AHA’s cause.

AHA is a parachurch organization that has no biblical precedent, command, or authority to rebuke or ‘exhort’ (a term I believe is abused by AHA) the local church. God has given the local church the gift of elders to shepherd the hearts of His people, and they are accountable before the Lord in how they teach them, lead them, equip them, admonish them, and exhort them to the glory of Christ. It is argued that by this “strict adherence” to the “church/parachurch” distinction that this would mean Christian from Church A cannot admonish Christian from Church B, but this only reveals a gross ignorance of God’s purposes in the local church. Of course, as salt and light of the world, Christians are free to, and must, oppose sin and address sin with those in their sphere of influence (be they believers or nonbelievers, all in the context of the Gospel). But AHA and its devotees are engaging in organized fashion (“ministry”, if you will, albeit unbiblical “ministry”) to come against the local church and its complacency to abortion. Though they will say they are for the church (after all, “abolitionism is a work of the church”), their methodology is based on a faulty ecclesiology. They are quick to say one can have a sound orthodoxy, but lack sound orthopraxy (eg preach on loving your neighbor, but not actually loving your neighbor in practice in a manner AHA sees fit), yet my observations is their orthopraxy in terms of the local church is severely flawed (more on that later).

If the church is to reform and become not only more sensitive to the abortion issue, but actually be prayerfully engaged against the greatest holocaust in human history, it will not come by rebel, misfit protesters yelling outside local churches with “WAKE UP, CHURCH!” or “REPENT, CHURCH!” signs. Any revival in this area will come by a move of the Holy Spirit amongst a broken people who mourn over the shedding of innocent blood. It will not come by self-appointed prophets protesting outside true local churches, but by local churches encouraging and praying for other local churches to be serious about this crisis.

So much more can be said, but I need to be as concise as possible. I will have no part and be attached in no way to any movement or organization that views this as an acceptable practice. Moreover, those I have observed agreeing and endorsing this practice have commonly made declarations of a local church not being “a true church” based solely on its inactivity or lack of ministry in the realm of abortion (or what some would view as their refusal to do things the way AHA does things).

I vaguely knew about this ‘repent church project’ from the beginning, but as I learned more about it and observed more of it, it is a deal breaker. I hope it is a deal breaker for you too.

Reason #2 why I no longer endorse AHA: AHA is under no local church authority

The rhetoric above insinuates that just as abortion “clinics” are not true clinics, silent “churches” are not true churches (“silent” is not defined)

The irony of it all is that AHA is calling the church to repentance when they are not part of any local church themselves. Yes, I know the claim – “we are in a local church”, but truly they are not. Essentially, AHA is a group of nomad Christians who, according to their own website Door of Hope,

do not presently have a pastor or elders or deacons (yes, we do desire Biblical leadership, but we will wait until the need arises and the Lord raises up men from within our body who are fit for the task.

AHA claims to be under the authority of the local church, yet the church many of them are a part of is not a local church ruled by, led by, taught by, or equipped by elders, which Jesus Christ has appointed to shepherd His Church realized in the local church (Hebrews 13:7, 17; 1 Peter 5:1-11; 1 Timothy 5:17). Nor is this a church plant that was established under the authority of another local church, nor are the members at Door of Hope sent out to do any work of the ministry they claim to be doing. This is where their orthodoxy affects their orthopraxy in a negative way. They are in no way “subject to the elders” (1 Peter 5:5) and in no way can they “obey their leaders” (Hebrews 13:17) because they have no leaders (elders). They even state above that while they “desire Biblical leadership”, they will “wait until the need arises” (according to who?) and when “the Lord raises up men from within our body who are fit for the task” (such self-appointing leadership by a leaderless group of believers is found nowhere in Scripture!).

The reasons behind this illegitimate church plant are convoluted and multifaceted from what I have gathered. AHA seems to have an account that is colored quite differently than other perspectives and testimonies that have been shared regarding the church from where they left. One such account can be found here:  Before Dividing a Church and Starting Your Own. Regardless, the fact is AHA is under no local church authority, and its members not apart of Door of Hope are not sent out to do this work (including their ‘repent church project’) by any elder-led churches to my knowledge.

Ultimately, AHA is attempting Gospel ministry and it is attempting ecclessiastical ministry, but it has no attachment to the local church under the authority of God-appointed elders. It is for this reason, I cannot and will not be associated with AHA.

My prayer for AHA is for each member to repent from its rebellion to their leaders and submit to the local church ordained by Christ. If you don’t believe one exists in your community, move, or seek out the counsel and guidance of a local church outside your community that they might help you establish a church plant in your community. This will force you to deal with the sin issues affecting your detachment from your previous local church, and Lord willing, may help you be established as a legitimate church plant.

In conclusion, I appreciate a lot of AHA’s work. One thing I observed about some of the leadership is its willingness to reform. I hope they reform in these areas as well, repent from protesting outside of churches, and repent from their refusal to submit to elders presently. I was asked to be patient about the “church repent project” until the details get worked out, but having observed it in practice on various occasions and engaged in discussions with various people who identify themselves as “AHA”, I have all the information I need.

And I repent.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Yes, the aforementioned evils are great evils, but what is the greatest of all evil? That Christ was crucified by evil men. Yet, even and necessarily was this worked for the good of those who have been called by Him, for Him. Acts 4:24-28 tells us,

And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit,

“‘Why did the Gentiles rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers were gathered together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed’—

for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Beloved, there was no greater evil that has ever taken place, nor ever will take place, than evil men murdering the innocent, anointed, holy, and righteous Christ Jesus. Yet, there has never been so great a good worked for mankind than the One who was murdered by man and crushed by His own Father to take away the sins of the world. This was the plan of God from the beginning.

No greater good worked from the greatest of evil is available to man than the death and resurrection of the God-man Christ Jesus. He was bruised and afflicted for our transgression, punished for our iniquity, died for our reconciliation to God, raised from the dead for our justification, and now lives and reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords.

If you know not this greatest of good, consider the greatest of evil purposed for the glory of God, the price that had to be paid so that sinners just like you and me would be forgiven and receive eternal life.

Oh that you would not put salvation off any longer, but come to the One who calls you by name, to turn from your sins and put on Christ. For it is only in Him that you have any hope, and it is only in Him that your crimes against our Holy God are forgiven.

Or, He knows not your name, and you will continue to harden your heart and commit the second greatest act of evil known to man, and that is continued rebellion against the merciful King Jesus. God, too, will glorify Himself and work that to the good of His people as the smoke of your torment rises from the pit of hell to glorify the Lamb of God, and the saints will glorify in Him who is just.

Oh that you would come to Christ and live, dear friend, and know your God. Cast yourself on Him, and He will not turn you away.

Jesus, His name is Jesus, and He is worthy for you to come to Him. Just come.

Have you ever considered Scripture was not given to us apart from the stories, actions, decisions, words, thoughts, and characteristics of real people? More importantly, Scripture is given to us through God’s dealings through and with these people?

If God’s Word is eternal, was Scripture written to merely record history or was it written to define history and God’s decrees established before the foundation of the world?

Could that which is in Scripture not have happened? Could Saul not have persecuted Christians? Could Matthew not have been a tax collector? Could the thoughts and intentions of man’s heart not been so wicked that God would not have sent a great flood? Could Joseph’s brothers not have sold him into slavery? Could David not have been pursued by Saul? Could Daniel not have been thrown into the lion’s den? Could Lydia not have been from Thyatira and present in Philippi to hear Paul preach the Gospel? Could Herod not have ruled at the time of Christ? Could Stephen not have been stoned? Could Judas not have betrayed Christ? Could John the Baptist not have been beheaded? Could Peter not drawn his sword? Could the Centurion not have beheld the Son of God at the foot of the cross?

Consider this:

Nebuchadnezzar could not have raised a golden image, could not have thrown the three Jewish men in the fiery furnace, could not have declared to his people not to oppose the Jewish God, could not have gone mad until he recognized the sovereign hand of God, and could not have declared what he did in Daniel 4:34-35 that God would record as His Word to reveal of Himself:

At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; 35 all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”

God did not merely use Nebuchadnezzar’s experience to reveal Himself, rather He ordained Nebuchadnezzar’s experience to reveal Himself. As such, he has sovereignly ordained the experiences of all men that they would fulfill His purposes in His unfolding plan of redemption for His glory alone (just read Ephesians chapter 1 to see that this is true).

In closing, have you ever pondered the wisdom, power, and sovereignty of God that every single word in Scripture was decreed before the foundation of the world, and nothing that is in Scripture could have not been written? Every detail of Scripture, whether of man or angels or animals or natural phenomena or any other created thing, God established before He said “let their be light”, and every detail of Scripture is for us today and has been since the beginning.

Oh the glories and infinite wisdom of the Most High God, who works all things according to the counsel of His will!

I am so encouraged with the work of some saints in Tyler, Texas. Seth Capps, Mike Anderson, and Mike Peek travel over 1oo miles one way to minister at their closest abortion mill. Unfortunately, however, there seems to be no local Christians at the Shreveport mill in Louisiana who are doing this work. Because of the distance, the team from East Texas is only able to minister there a few times a month. To help bring awareness and call upon Christians in East Texas and Louisiana to join them in this mission field, the Abolitionist Society of North Carolina interviewed Mike Peek about their ministry. It’s such an encouraging testimony of what the Lord is doing in these saints, and the warfare they are waging to save souls and love their pre-born neighbors.

Please do what you can to pass this along that Christians in this region will be encouraged and step into battle: Faithful Abortion Mill Missions: An Interview with Mike Peek

Mike Anderson holds a sign in front of Hope Medical Group, informing the public that babies are murdered there.

Yet, however you may picture Dorner perishing in the flames, and what the roaring flames would feel like as they engulfed him, it fails in comparison to what Dorner is feeling now if he died as a murderer. Matthew 13:42 calls it a furnace of fire. Other NT Scriptures refer to it as a lake of fire. While others refer to it as the blackness of darkness. Yet, these are only depictions of the reality of what hell really is. They do not exceed the reality of hell, but are only faint images and shadows of the true torments of hell. As Jonathan Edwards says,

we find everything that gives an idea of an extreme misery is used to set forth hell torments because no one is sufficient to express it.

Dorner, if a dead murderer, is facing that reality now. He has found ultimate justice in the hands of the Living God. The experience of Dorner is dreadful. Eternally dreadful. He has begun drinking the bottemless cup of the Lord that is filled with the foaming wine of His terrible wrath, and Dorner will drink it down to the dregs (Psalm 75:8).

Burning brimstone or melted metal, whatever you imagine the glowing heat of God’s wrath to be, this is the eternal resting place of Christopher Dorner. But he will not lose consciousness, and his flesh will not melt away. He will be eternally destroyed, but not utterly destroyed, rather an everlasting presence of being destroyed.

This will also be the resting place and condition of each carnal christian, every idolater trusting in their own righteousness, and every person who suppresses the truth of God in their unrighteousness.

Repent, and believe the Gospel, or you will likewise perish. Yield yourself to the Lordship of Christ and obey Him, or you will glorify Him in your destruction.

Joe the Serial Killer has no obligation to live in conformity to his culture’s value system if the value system is based on sociological law (a relative few deciding what is best for society at a particular time). In other words, if there is no Higher Law, then everything is relative, there is no right, there is no wrong, and there is no ultimate justice. If that is the worldview of Joe, then he has no moral obligation to obey law, nor should those who share his worldview expect him to behave any differently than what Joe believes suits his fancy best (even if it is predatory behavior).

However, most people who suppress the truth of God’s existence do not behave like Joe, nor do they expect most people to behave like Joe. But they must ask the question, “why don’t most people, or all people, behave like Joe?” It is unreasonable to think that conscience alone or the penal pressures of a civilized society would restrain man from the greatest evils.

Thankfully, God has not left it up to man to restrain evil. It is only by His mercy that it is restrained at all, and it is the fear of punishment that man seeks not to harm his neighbor. Those who do evil to their neighbor merely exhibit the depths to which they have suppressed the truth of God’s authority over them, and they manifest the degree to which God has given them over to the lusts of their hearts (Romans 1:18-32).

In chapter 1 of Unless You Repent titled, “‘Tis Unreasonable to Think that God Will Take No Care to Punish the Wickedness that There is in the World“, the great American theologian Jonathan Edwards warned,

It is unreasonable to suppose that God will not punish wickedness if we consider it as it respects the creature. The dreadful injuries men do to one another, though never so great, would never be avenged. Murderers, pirates, persecutors, and the like would go unpunished, however cruel the matter is attended with aggravating circumstances.

How unreasonable it is to think that He who made the world will not take care of it, but would leave it to this dreadful confusion. No other is able to avenge such things but He who is the Judge. Persons thus injured have nowhere else to go to be righted since vengeance belongs to Him. Romans 12:19: “Vengeance is Mine. I will repay.”

If God takes no care to punish wickedness, there is nothing to restrain men from ruining and devouring one another. Men’s malice, cruelty, and injustice would be without any restraint. Conscience would not restrain men; there would be nothing to restrain men from theft, robbery, murder, adultery, or perjury, anything whereby men’s interests are improved. Human laws would not restrain men. ‘Tis unreasonable to suppose that God, who made the world, has left it without any manner of means to prevent its own ruin and confusion….

…Hence we learn that it is very unreasonable for sinners to flatter themselves that there is no hell.

Oh Sinner, do not flatter yourself that there is no hell. Hell does exist. It must exist as God exists, and the day is coming that you will know that it exists, either by experience or because you have been saved from it. So, will you go there?

Preaching in Uptown Charlotte on the American Holocaust on January 22, 2013.

January 22, 2013 marked the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that institutionalized abortion on demand in America. This has been an intense week for those engaged in the battle for life in the culture of death. I have been very encouraged by what I am seeing take place in the Christian community, though there is much more to be done if abortion is to ever be abolished. On Tuesday, I posted the following on facebook:

I am encouraged by my fb feed today as it has been swamped with talk of RvW and abolishing abortion. I have seen folks posting on the issue that I have not see posting before, including various ministry leaders. Other leaders are becoming more vocal, and I am so grateful for that. My hope is that engaging the culture of death will become “mainstream” in the true church of Jesus Christ, and I am encouraged by what I am seeing. It does seem like the Body of Christ is waking up, and that is worthy of acknowledgment and praise to the Lord. I just hope we hear more from those who had something to say today many more times before January 22, 2014, and that they will take steps to become more active to minister to abortion-minded parents and our pre-born neighbors. The love of Christ commands this of us.

With this in mind, I’d like to share some resources with you that may be an encouragement for you to become active in the necessary fight against abortion. It is time for the church to wake up and answer the call to love our pre-born neighbors as ourselves. Many are doing just that, but we must continue talking about, preaching against it, and ministering to those enslaved to sin who would sacrifice their own children on the altar of self.

On the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, I preached the following message in Uptown Charlotte:

Across the street from where I preached, Cities4Life held their annual memorial service in Uptown Charlotte. It was a great turnout and encouragement to Christians in our city to mobilize to engage the culture of death with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Make sure you watch until the end as David Benham, founder of Cities4Life, truly brings this crisis into perspective:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=527485520605279

R.C. Sproul sat down with John MacArthur on January 22 to discuss the holocaust of abortion in America. MacArthur really spoke to the needed call to our churches when he said,

Our goal has to be to awaken the church.

Amen, and that is one of the goals of Abolish Human Abortion.  Make sure you check out the AHA website, Youtube, and facebook pages.  If you are in North Carolina, “like” the Abolitionist Society of North Carolina page and stay tuned for our AHANC website launch.

Even if you do not have an abortion mill near your community, you can get some Abolish Human Abortion gear at AHAGear.com, or print some of these posters and stand on a street corner in your city. They just might open a door for you to declare the Gospel to someone, which is the only answer to abortion.

A few weeks ago, I posed the question: Would You Seek the Abolition of Pedophilia?  So there it is again in case you missed it.

Jesse Johnson shared his thoughts over at The Cripplegate on what the Abortion Memorial might look like after abortion is abolished in America.

A branch of Cities4Life just launched that will serve to equip Christians to minister at their local abortion mills. Check out Sidewalks4Life for more details.

If you live near Charlotte, join us on February 1-2 for Frontline Training. This is a great way to learn how to minister at abortion mills, and there will be practical experience to be gained as we lead the class to the abortion mill next Saturday morning.  Check out the facebook event page or see the Cities4Life blog for more details.

I am currently reading Francis Schaeffer’s A Christian Manifesto, and will then read Whatever Happened to the Human Race. These are both must reads if you want to understand what Christianity looks like in a culture that kills its own children – and what we must do to stop it.

At Ligonier, R.C. Sproul Jr. published Roe v. Wade: A Generation Lost, and concluded with the following:

We must be politically active. We must serve moms in crisis. We must speak prophetically to both the world and the church, remembering that one in six abortions is procured by an evangelical. First, however, we must weep. First, our hearts have to be broken, lest our pro-life activities lead us to forget. First we must repent because for a generation we have thought and acted like a movement, while every day babies are being murdered. First we must recognize that the problem isn’t how many were killed over the past forty years, but is instead how many will be killed in the next forty minutes. We must pledge not to not forget what has happened, but to not forget what is happening. Last we must remember that there is only one thing that can wash the blood from our hands, the blood from His.

Crown Rights Media is currently developing a new documentary on abortion that will serve to stir the church to action. The trailer can be seen at Babiesaremurderedhere.com, and also like the facebook fan page. Please spread the word. Everywhere.

Finally, while filming for the Babies Are Murdered Here documentary, Marcus Pittman snapped the following photo of Orlando sidewalk missionary, John Barros. Pittman adds the caption,

While filming in Orlando, today John Barros got a surprise visit from Chase. Chase is 19 Days old and came to visit with his mom and dad to say thanks for being there, telling my mom the Gospel and saving my life.

This is the face of Gospel-driven abortion ministry. Won’t you become a part of it?