Praying judgment on the wicked
Category: Obedience to God’s Will
Key Passage: Jeremiah 18
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: February 27, 2024
Would you turn in your Bible? It was to Jeremiah chapter 18, please. Jeremiah chapter number 18. And how many got the email today about the message? How many got that email today? Did you get that? And something I’ve never heard anybody preach on. And I’ve never preached on it. And I’m not sure what it will be, but we’re going to find out here in the second year. But…
Jeremiah 18, and I do believe the Lord has led us to talk about a very strategic weapon that a child of God has. It’s not used very often, and you may go much of your life without using it, but it’s a vital weapon, an important weapon.
I think specifically of our country and the battle we’re in, and it is really such a crucial time. That is a time we must bring all our weapons to bear. I’m not talking about fleshily weapons, carnal weapons. I’m talking about our weapons are mighty through God. And I’m talking about the mighty weapons God has given us. This is an era.
Or arrow in the quiver of a Christian that every once in a while, God will lead you to pull that arrow out, and it’s vital. I think sometimes in our modern-day Christianity, specifically in America, we never use. We don’t realize we have this arrow, and so we don’t win in some battles that God would like us to win in. And so this arrow, this weapon we’re talking about tonight, I think it’s just very vital. It’s very…
It must be used with caution. I’d say that with wisdom. But Jeremiah chapter number 18 is what we’re starting at tonight. And Jeremiah is just a great prophet, great preacher. We often call him the weeping prophet. He was amazing. He preached and gave God’s message to the children of Israel. And they really did not listen to him or obey the message from God through him.
And they persecuted him from time to time. They put him in a pit of, oh, just a sinkhole, if you will, of mire of clay. And different things—amazing to me that the children of Israel would not listen. And yet Jeremiah bore the consequences many times and kept preaching to them. There’s a little different side of Jeremiah we’re about to read about. That is usually overlooked.
It doesn’t sound like the weeping prophet. It’s just a brief glimpse of a time in his life when he used an arrow we’re talking about. And don’t you just see it? Let me just say a couple more things about it before we dive into it. Withhold your judgment, if you will, to the end of the message, if you do so, please. Because it’s so rarely spoken of.
You’ll at some point say, “Wait, wait, what about this, this, this, this?” And I think we’ll get to those if you just give a little time. But it’s not the typical. There’s such a worldly Christianity in America that we sometimes bypass very serious weapons God gives us. And so we’ll talk about that. Some of these verses up first you’ll be like, “Whoa, that doesn’t sound right.” So would you just kind of hang in there for a little bit?
Until we get the conclusion of the matter. If you do that, I sure would appreciate it. Jeremiah 18, we’re going to start verse number 19. And would you please stand out of respect to God’s word? Jeremiah 18, verse number 19. I haven’t told you the title because you won’t listen to me anymore. But give it away, and I’m teasing you will. But in fact, Brother Marlin, the title will be “Praying Judgment on the Wicked.” Praying judgment on the wicked will be the title of it.
Jeremiah 18, verse number 19. This is Jeremiah praying to the Lord. He says, “Give heed to me, O Lord, and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me.” Now he said, “Lord, I want you to hear my prayer, and those that are praying with me, would you hear their prayers?” Okay.
Verse number 20: “Shall evil be recompensed for good?” Jeremiah had been doing so much good. Shall evil be recompensed for good? For they have digged a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them. There was a time that Jeremiah just really stood up and said, “Lord, would you have mercy on them?”
Therefore, deliver up. Now, this is part—this is going to seem rare to you, unusual for you—that a man of God would pen these words. God led him, he inspired him, he led him, told him to write these words. God’s words we’re talking about here. You’re going to think, “Whoa, right?” But I don’t want you to see what God… By the way, this isn’t what the pastor. This is what God says. Okay. Verse 21. Therefore, deliver up:
Their children to the famine and pour out their blood by the force of the sword. Let their wives be bereaved of their children and be widows, and let their men be put to death. Let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard for their houses.
When thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them, for they have digged a pit to take me and hid snares for my feet. Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against me to slay me. Forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee. Deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.
Would you pray that, Lord, just help us rightly divide and grow and learn this arrow and quiver God gives us? Would you pray and ask the Lord to do so? Lord, we sure need your direct wisdom and input to every individual’s life on this subject.
Lord, I know you’ve led this way. Father, I just pray to you, give me wisdom to present it like you’d want it. Father, we want to rightly divide your word. Lord, we do pray for the righteous to prosper and the wicked to be defeated. Lord, I pray you to use tonight to that end. And Father, we’ll thank you and brag with you and praise you for what you do, Lord. I yield to you. Realize if any good thing happens tonight, it won’t be me, Lord, it’ll be you. So would you work tonight, Father, please? We’ll thank you for it. We ask in your son, Jesus, and then we pray. Amen.
Would you look over? Would you look over to Psalms 83? And I want us just read—there’s many of them we could turn to in the Bible—but I think it’s such a little-known subject and a little talked about subject. It’s just, it’ll shock us. So I want us to see it in several different places in the Bible. We’ve already seen Jeremiah praying judgment on the wicked, for sure. Pretty bold prayer, to say the least. Just amazing. He, he…
Wanted them to be widows and so on and so on and children to be fatherless and on and on. Psalm 83 of God’s word. If you look at the top of that, a song or a psalm of Asaph. And I point that out to some say, “Yes, there’s a couple of imprecatory Psalms,” some will call it that, where David is praising against the wicked. And there are…
Many, but it’s not just David. We’ve already read Jeremiah. We’re about to read of Asaph. We’ll get some of David, and we’ll get some of the New Testament also here in this moment. But I want you to notice that because someone will say, “Well, that’s just a couple of David’s.” No, no, much more than that in the Bible. Psalm 83. Look at verse number one. We’ll read more than usual, so hang with me if you would, please, on that. Psalm 83. The Bible says, “Keep not thou silence, O God.”
“Hold not thy peace, be not still, O God.” He’s asked the Lord to intervene here. For lo, thine enemies make a tumult. And they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, “Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.”
They have consulted together with one consent. They are confederate against thee: The tabernacles of Edom and the Ishmaelites, of Moab and the Hagarites, Kibo and Ammon, Amalek, the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre. Asher also has joined with them, and they have helped the children of Lot. Now here begins to pray judgment against the wicked. Very strong, very strong.
“Do unto them as unto the Midianites; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook of Kishon: those that perished at Endor, they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb.”
Those were on the other side of Jordan right before they came into the promised land. They were killed. Yea, and all the princes of Zebah and Zalmunna, who said, “Let us take to ourselves the houses of God in possession.” Oh, my God, make them like a wheel, as a stubble before the wind. As a fire burneth a wood, and as a flame setteth the mountains on fire.
So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their houses with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord. That’s very interesting. Let them be confounded and troubled forever. Yea, let them be put to shame and perish, that men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth.
Friend, you can kind of debate it all you want to, but the honest truth is these men of God are praying down judgment on the wicked. Is that true or not? Now, we’re just going to rip this out of the Bible. We’re going to have to rip out a lot of other things out of the Bible because we’re the ones going to be dictating what we believe or not. But that’s Bible. It’s not spoken up very much, not talked about a lot, and it’s kind of almost pushed down in our end time. But, friend, you can’t debate that men of God…
Are praying for judgment on the wicked. They’re asking for God just to slaughter them. Am I exaggerating or not, friend? We’ve already read Jeremiah. Now, Asaph. Let’s look over in Psalm 109, David here. This is probably the one most mentioned when you speak of an imprecatory Psalm. You’re just going to read something, you’re like, “Wow.” This is some strong praying.
I fear sometimes our prayers are just so general and so vague and so watered down. They were not really doing business with God. These men in prayer, they were going somewhere. They were accomplishing something in prayer. And let’s look at this saying God leading David to pen these words. Psalm 109.
We’re going to start verse number one. If you’re there, would you say amen? Amen. Look at verse number one. “Hold not thy peace, O God of my praise. For the mouth of the wicked, the mouth of the deceitful are open against me.” Interesting. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause. For my love, they are my adversary.
But I give myself unto prayer. They have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love. Except thou set a wicked man over him. Pretty interesting. Give wicked leaders. And let Satan stand at his right hand. When he should be judged, let him be condemned, and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. It sounds like Psalm 83 we just read. Let his children be continually vagabonds and beg; let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath, and let the strangers spoil his labor. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him, neither let there be any to favor his fatherless children.
Let his posterity be cut off, and in the generation following, let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to show mercy, but persecuted the poor, needy man,
That he might even slay the broken and heart. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him; as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. Let it be unto him as a garment which covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
“Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord, and of them that speak evil against my soul.” Now, friend, you can say what you want, but if you’re going to go by the Bible, it’s very clear: these men are praying down some wrath and some judgment and some condemnation for sure of God on the wicked. Is that true or not? That’s biblical, friend.
This Bible we’re talking. Now, someone said, “Well, that’s just Old Testament.” Would you look over in Revelation chapter number six? Stick with me there in the beginning here. We’ll try to draw some conclusions. Revelation chapter number six. I’ve heard so many say, “Well, I wish we had a nation that had a fear of God about them.”
I agree with that. Sometimes they don’t have a fear of God about them because us Christians don’t live and pray like we have a God that hears prayers. I think of a preacher that he went to a door out soul winning, and the man came to the door and he said, “Ha, I’ve heard about you. You’re a fraud. You’re a fake.”
And the preacher said, “Don’t say that about me. I’ve got problems, but I’m not a fake.” He said, “You keep saying that, and I’m going to pray God to kill you.” The guy stopped saying that. Now, I’m not saying every time you answer like that, but sometimes God might lead like that. God did them with that preacher. And then I think after that, he tried to win him to the Lord. I don’t remember the whole story. I don’t think he got saved.
But we have such a lack of fear of God. And even amongst Christians, the fear of God is just awareness of His presence in your life all the time. He could take your life out like that, or He could bless you like that anytime He wants to. That’s the true fear of the Lord. He’s in control all the time of everything.
And let’s look over in Revelation. Revelation chapter number six, if you would be there. Revelation chapter number six. And when he had opened the fifth seal, this is, of course, during the tribulation period. I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. There will be people getting saved during the tribulation period, those that have not heard a clear presentation of the gospel, according to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2.
And there’s severe persecution. They’ll be beheaded during the tribulation period. And they’ve been praying. Well, what have they been praying? Verse number 10: “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?’” The folk I’m saying, the Christian in the tribulation period, even those folk…
“Hey, Lord, when are you going to bring judgment on these people that are killing Christians?” They’re praying that. And God, by the way, God wanted all these prayers recorded in His Holy Word. Man didn’t put that Bible together. God put that. That’s God’s words. God wanted these in the Bible. He wanted them there. Look over, if we will, in 1 Corinthians chapter 16. 1 Corinthians chapter 16. Very interesting here.
First Corinthians chapter 16 and look at verse number 22, if you would please. We’ll be turning so much in just a little bit, so stick with me here. 1 Corinthians chapter 16 and verse number 22, if you would please. 1 Corinthians 16 and verse number 22: “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha.” Now, anathema means it means really excommunicated with curses, just a very strong—only time in the Bible you’ll find these words.
Then Maranatha has to do with the Lord coming. The Lord is at hand. Really speaking of His judgment. And he said, look, if somebody’s just against Jesus Christ, here’s the reason why, because if someone’s against Jesus Christ, they’re a part of sending people to hell. Because the only way anybody’s going to get to heaven and miss hell is through Jesus Christ. That’s why it’s so important. Look over in Galatians chapter 1, if you would please. Galatians chapter 1. And Galatians 1, verse number 9.
Galatians 1:9. As we said before, I’ll wait for a second. First, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians. Galatians chapter 1, verse number 9: “As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.” These are New Testament times. He said, “Hey, if they’re going to preach anything else besides Jesus Christ alone and His the Savior, let him be a curse.” It’s Bible. And God, He said what He wanted to say. I meant what He said. You understand?
So, number one, I’m going to give you about seven things. Number one: We are allowed at times and wanted by God at times to pray judgment against the wicked. How do I know that? Because it’s biblical. You’ll find it many times in God’s Holy Word. Now, I’m not making this up. I’m, you know, “The pastor had a nightmare. He must have ate pizza before he went to bed last night,” you know. It’s Bible.
And it’s a weapon. It’s an arrow that God gives to His people at times. It’s interesting. I read today about a Ukrainian Christian. And he said, “I never thought about praying judgment on the wicked until communism took over my country.” So that’s when it began to dawn on him, and he said, communism is just killing God’s people in such awful ways, to begin to think, “Wait a second, this is a Bible thing.”
And that speaks of it more than once, more than just David. And it’s in the New Testament also. Now, let’s get a couple of points in line with it. Number one, we’ve said we’re allowed at times to pray judgment against the wicked because it is biblical, right? Number two, number two: We must factor in all the Bible.
2 Peter 1:20: “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” What does that mean? You can’t interpret just one section of the Bible privately. It must fit in with the rest of the Bible. So we learn this: Yes, it’s biblical to pray like that, but I must take the whole Bible into account here.
How many of you have already thought about this verse? Matthew 5:44: “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.” How many of you already thought about that verse? Anybody already? That’s right to do. You want to account for all the different verses. What about “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord”? It’s right to take all these verses into account.
Pray for them which despitefully use you. All those are right. The Sermon on the Mount where Jesus is speaking over there in Matthew 5—can I say that’s more typically He’s talking to you on your personal level? If it’s a personal situation, I would not want to be praying, “All right, somebody take me off.” If maybe an uncle said something about me, “It thanks him or whatever it may be.” No, it wouldn’t be right to pray like that, judgment on them. Love my enemies. Pray for those.
But not altogether. But these other verses, for the most part, are speaking of battles between good and evil. I don’t want to get in personal situations, and I’m praying judgment on the wicked. No, no. Number one, we said it’s biblical; we can from time to time do that. Number two, we must take all the Bible into account. Number three: There is a difference between revenge and wanting justice to be served.
You see, asking God to bring judgment instead of you bringing vengeance. One of the verses in the Bible I’ve already read, Romans 12:19: “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto the wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” I’m not talking about me taking matters into my own hands. I’m talking about me taking matters to the Lord and trusting the Lord to handle those.
Him bringing justice. See, I’m not talking about me being bitter at some individual and praying judgment—no, no, no, no. But there’s nothing wrong when God… I would like it if you’d serve justice here. That’s right. “Lord, we want some justice to be done.” Father, as far as I know, that crowd is wicked and sinful, and Lord, you bring justice there, and you said that the wicked shall be soon cut down. Father, I’m asking, would you honor your word? Nothing wrong with that prayer. Biblical. Psalm 37 says the wicked shall be soon cut down.
But no, not revenge. No, vengeance is mine. See, I’m not taking matters into my own hands, but I’m trusting God to do so. Psalm 103, verse number six: “The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.” In some ways, often it is simply a matter of asking God to honor His word.
Genesis chapter number 12, you know the Abrahamic covenant, and God said, “Hey, I’ll bless them,” speaking of Abraham, his descendants, and specifically through Isaac and the nation of Israel. And He says, “Hey, I’ll bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee.” Nothing wrong with saying, “Hey, Lord, they’ve cursed your nation of Israel. Lord, you said you’ll curse them. Father, would you—would you curse…”
Not an individual, non-vengeful, not revengeful, not revenge, but justice to be certain. Nothing wrong with that. Now, you trust the Lord. And sometimes the full justice will not come until eternity. You trust the Lord in the meantime. But at times, at times as God leads, it’s all right to pray judgment on the wicked. It’s a biblical thing. I like this verse. It’s Proverbs 12:21. A couple of years or two ago, I preached on it. Just a great verse when I kind of got it.
But it says, “There shall no evil happen to the just: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief.” That’s a great promise. Maybe it be at work, and you see—just not an individual, not bitter at one person—but you see the wicked maybe just doing so much injustice. It’s all right. Say, “Lord, would you bring some justice here? And Lord, would you do something about it? You said, Lord, that the wicked shall be filled with mischief.” Father, I’m asking for that. Never asking God—now, listen—never asking God to do injustice. Never asking for that.
You say, “Well, who’s to say what is just and what isn’t just?” The Bible. All right to go by His word. So, number one, we’re allowed at times to pray for judgment against the wicked because it’s in the Bible; it’s biblical. Number two, we must factor in all the Bible. Number three, there is a difference between revenge and vengeance and wanting justice to be served. Number four, number four: Bitterness is never right.
Ephesians 4:31: “Let all bitterness, all bitterness, wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” Never right, never right to have bitterness. I’m sure many Christians had to battle that in Nazi Germany, even then.
Now, would it be right for them to say, “Hey, Lord, I want you to bring some justice to Hitler and this nation and the Nazis?” Yes, it would be right for that. It would be time to bring that arrow out. But even then, even then, it wouldn’t be right for them to be bitter. God’s not going to hear your prayers when you’re bitter, and it’s going to grow that root down in you. Many will be defiled when you get that root of bitterness. Never right. Never right to be bitter.
Can I say this? And I’ve thought about this, but I think sometimes praying judgment on the wicked can either help or hurt me in bitterness. Sometimes it might help me to say, “Hey, Lord, I’ve prayed about this, and I’ve told you what I—the best I can tell from your word and just looking at it, the wickedness—and I’m asking your judgment.” Now, Lord, it might help me to be able to do that. Now I can put it in your hands. Let bitterness go sometimes that way. Maybe different times, different situations, different personalities. Sometimes the more I pray about it, the more I think about it, and the more I battle bitterness, it might not be the time for me to bring that arrow out. But bitterness is never right.
And God said, “Let all bitterness be put away from you.” Number five, number five: Our motives. Our motives in this area, this subject, are just so important. Our motives are of the utmost importance when it comes to praying judgment against the wicked. It’s so vital, your motives. Now, here’s the thing: Motives are very tricky. They can deceive you.
And so here’s a couple things very important about your motives. Number one, the Bible. We quote that Hebrews 4:12: “For the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.” But you know that verse. It keeps going: “For the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, even dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
That book will help you figure out really what is going on, even the thoughts and intents of the heart. That book will point out—that’s amazing how the Bible works. And when it comes to something so powerful—praying judgment—and yet something so careful, I must allow the Word of God to dictate what I’m doing and why I’m doing it.
The Word of God, and then the Spirit of God. I must allow Him. You know when David was getting right with God over there in Psalm 51, I think it’s verse number six, I’ve got it pinned here, put down here. He says, “Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts.”
“And in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.” You see, if I’m real truthful inside with the Spirit of God, then He’ll make me to know wisdom. You know, some people never go past a certain point because they’re just not totally honest. They won’t be honest about themselves, about their motives. They won’t be honest about things inside and why they do what they do.
And no, no, He desires truth in the inward parts. When I get truthful and allow the Spirit of God to work inside me, that’s when He’ll make me to know wisdom. Wow, I never realized that about myself. Now I can see how I need to grow, in what area I need to grow. But I must be honest about my motives. You can fool the preacher. You can fool others. You can fool people at the church, wherever it may be at work. But you’re not going to fool God.
And in this thing of prayer, the Holy Spirit is my prayer partner, and I must allow Him to guide me on my prayer life. My motives when it comes to praying judgment on the wicked is so very, very important. Let me ask you: Are they a personal enemy, or are they an enemy of the Lord? Is it a personal matter and vengeance on your part, or is it, well, they are enemies of God’s righteous causes?
Some of those Psalms we read, Psalm 83 specifically, you know, notice the purpose was for the Lord, so His name would be known. Some—I’ll be honest—with Psalm 109, some was just very personal with David. And I don’t want to twist the Word of God. They were. But I must allow the Spirit of God to guide me in that and be very real about my vengeance, my motives in this matter.
So, number one: Sometimes we can pray judgment on the wicked. It’s a biblical thing. Number two: I must bring all the Bible into view in this thing. Number three: There’s a difference between revenge and vengeance and wanting justice to be served. Number four: Bitterness is never right. Number five: Our motives are of the utmost importance. Number six—when we’ve got two more, we’re done, amen.
Two more. Number six, number six: We must realize—now listen to this—we must realize bringing justice in a world filled with wicked people sometimes means judgment comes on the wicked. Helping the oppressed often means judgment on the oppressor. You understand what I’m saying?
In a world of injustice and unjust people, sometimes bringing justice in means judgment on the unjust. A couple of thoughts about it: Often praying for judgment in the Bible was when God’s people were under attack and the wicked were just coming after them. David seemed like that. Asaph seemed like that. Jeremiah seemed like that.
Of course, Revelation 6, we read it like that. By the way, we did not—and I missed a couple of things—but there are so many examples in the Bible, whether it be Elisha, when remember the men came to get him off the mount and he prayed down the fire. The fifty, fifty. The third one, he’s a little bit wise. He said, “Man, I know what you did. You prayed down fire on those first 250.” “Hey, man, would you please come with me, buddy, you know?” And he said, “All right, I won’t pray.” Yeah, that’s Bible. Even Elisha. One of the young people said, “Hey, you bald-headed old guy over there.” You remember that? That’s Bible.
I’m not saying we are to go and pray that a bunch of she-bears come out and kill people, you know, but it is a biblical thing. And at times, we need to pull the arrow out of the quiver that God’s given us. Often praying for judgment was against a group of people, not an individual.
Number seven, we’ll just do a little bit, a couple illustrations, we’ll go home. But are they bent on being God’s enemy? Are they just bent on being God’s enemy? I love someone; I want to protect them. If I love someone, I want to align myself with them. Now, if they’re not right, there’s a problem there, but God’s always right. Just and right is He.
And they’re just bent on being God’s enemy. Look back over in Galatians chapter 1, if you would please. Galatians chapter 1. We mentioned verse number 9, and in this right, we’re going to go back to it. But I want to start verse number 6. Galatians 1, verse number 6.
It’s 8 o’clock, folks. You hear that? That’s the grandfather clock out in the lobby that’s right there. We’re good. Galatians chapter 1, y’all with me tonight? Amen? It’s a different one. I’m rightly dividing God’s word for us to grow by and use it. Galatians 1. Look at verse number 6: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel; which is not another.”
But there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. And as we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be a curse.
Why? Because they’re sending people to hell. Friend, let’s just take an illustration. Say I go to a little village in India, and they’re very poor, and I go there and I dump millions of dollars in, and I build nice houses, and I maybe even teach them how to manage and keep up with all that. But I tell them that in order for them to go to heaven, they’ve got to bow down to Buddha. Am I helping them or hurting them?
Oh, friend, they might live in luxury down here, have air conditioning and a padded bed and all that, but they’re going to spend eternity in hell. I go there and do them all kind of nice things and good things, but I tell them they’ve got to be good enough to go to heaven, and they’ve got to do their sacraments, friend. At the end of the day, I’m hurting them because I’m leading them to go to hell and split hell wide open for all eternity. Because Jesus is the only way to heaven. That’s why He says, “Let them be accursed.”
Oh, friend, these things down here are just temporal; that’s eternal. There’s a lot of religions that are Christians—I should say in America—that I don’t… I don’t agree with everything they do, but they preach the gospel right; they’re my brother in Christ. Now, if they preach the gospel wrong, they don’t preach the true gospel, they’re not my brother in Christ. Now, you need to be wise then anyway: wise as the serpent, harmless as a dove, the Bible says. You’ll catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
A friend, if they’re sending people to hell, I’ve got a problem with that, because that’s the most important thing there is. And the Bible said, “Let them be accursed.” That’s what God’s word says right there. Pray—now listen—pray with authority for judgment on the wicked when you know it’s the will of God. And I mean pray with authority from God when you know it’s the will of God. Not to hurt people, no, in the end, to help people.
You know our military, praise the Lord, and we’re not always innocent of this. But for the most part, America’s military has gone over and killed a lot of people in order to save a lot of lives. Is that true or not? Hey, we’re in a battle for Him. There’s a spiritual warfare going on, and it’s at a height right now. It’s a great battle, a great conflict.
I like for the good and right to win. Why? So more people go to heaven one day. Help a whole lot more people. Babies to be protected, not murdered. Millions of babies. I heard a story of a young Christian. He worked in the factory. You know a lot of factories with the people—not always. I worked in factories for years and years. But sometimes, not all, but some sinful people in the factory there…
A young Christian, and a young man, a sodomite, was messing with a Christian. And I preached on Sodom, you know that, not too long ago. You look it up on YouTube, whatnot. But the sodomite would touch. He was walking by, and the Christian worked, and the young Christian had touched the Christian inappropriately. The young Christian finally said, “Look, man, I’m a child of God. You better leave me alone. I’m a child of God. God takes care of His children.” Within 24 hours, the sodomite was gone. He’s dead.
Now, I’m not saying it’s always like that, but God does take care of His own. I’ll say that. I’ve told this story many times. It’s such a great illustration, true story. But some of you have heard this before. If you’ve heard it before, act like you haven’t. Please help me out here.
David Gibbs years ago, he was representing Lester Roloff. How many of you know who Lester Roloff is? Great, great preacher years ago. Amazing, in heaven now. Had children—so many of them—in Texas. And the state was coming after Lester Roloff, trying to close his homes down. And at this point, David Gibbs was representing—David Gibbs was a lawyer, he was representing in court. And David Gibbs said it was just a failure. He said the jury hated us. The judge didn’t like us either.
And he said, the state of Texas had about 12 lawyers, and they were highly paid, man, they’re good lawyers. And he said, Roloff just had me. He said they were killing us in court. It’s a slaughter. Horrible. And they got out of the court, and Lester Roloff said, “Hey, Brother Gibbs.” He said, “Tomorrow morning, we’re going to stay at a motel. He said, ‘We’re going to come, we’re going to get together. We’re going to pray together tomorrow morning. We’ll change this thing.’”
David Gibbs said, “All right, all right, you know.” Somebody said, “Let’s pray about your…” Oh, yeah, yeah, but you don’t pray about it sometime. Anyway, David Gibbs kind of, you know, “All right, all right,” you know. Lester Roloff, and I’ve heard many preachers say this about him, he’d do something like this. He said he called at 4 a.m. and said, “Hey, Brother Gibbs, are you up? You ready to pray?” Brother Gibbs said, “Oh, yeah, I’m up at 4 a.m. Just can’t wait to go pray,” you know. “What do you say?” you know.
And he said, “Come on down to my room. He said, ‘We’re going to change this thing right now. God’s going to hear us.’ He said, ‘Before we start praying, we’ve got to get clean.’” And David Gibbs, the way he tells the story, he said the old preacher, Roloff, he said he actually—he said, “You go get in that corner over there, and I’m going to get that corner over there.” And he said, actually, he said he thumped me in the chest with his finger. And he said, “Go on, get in that corner over there, and you get clean. I’m going to get my corner. I’m going to get clean.” And David Gibbs, you know, “All right.”
Roloff said, “Now, we’re no match for them. They’re killing us. Group of lawyers, I just got you. We got to get hold of God.” David Gibbs said he went and got in his corner. He didn’t know what to do. He said, “I just kind of stayed over in my corner. He said, ‘All I knew is I’m not coming out of my corner until he comes out of his corner.’” He said that in itself was prideful because he just didn’t want to look bad. It’s all about him.
He said, then he heard Lester Roloff. He started confessing his sins. He said it was like personal sins of, “Wow, goodness gracious.” He says about 10 minutes into it, old Roloff said, “I don’t hear any confessing going on over there.” So, Brother Gibbs, he said, “I ask heaven to turn on his flashlight.” Boy, I ask heaven in sincerity to turn on His flashlight. Boy, He’ll show up our sins.
He said, “We were in a corner for about an hour and a half just getting clean.” He said, after that, Brother Roloff said, “Let’s pray.” He said they got together. Brother Roloff started praying. He said, “Lord, make those lawyers fight with each other. Make them not even like each other. He said, ‘Lord, make that judge get so sick he’s got to go to the hospital. Don’t kill him, but let him be sick.’”
They went to the courtroom at 8:30 that morning. The judge called them up, said, “Y’all ready to go?” Brother Gibbs said, “Yes, Your Honor, we’re ready.” The other lawyers, the group of lawyers, 12 of them, said, “No, we got a problem. Last night we were in complete agreement on everything, but now we can’t agree on anything.”
And he said they just started arguing in front of the judge. He said one of the lawyers—he could hear him—one of the lawyers said, “We should have never sued this preacher.” And the judge had to say, “You know, the jury’s listening. Don’t be talking like that. The jury’s listening.” He said for about an hour, all they did was argue with each other. They couldn’t agree on anything. Finally, the lead lawyer, he said, “I don’t know what happened. Last night everything was great, but something happened this morning.”
Brother Gibbs said, oh, Lester Roloff kind of tugged on and said, “Hey, you want me to tell them what happened?” Brother Gibbs said, “No, no, no.” He said, “I know if he started telling that judge, he’s going to pray he won’t get sick, and I don’t want that to happen.” Three hours later, the whole case was dismissed. My friend, he was praying for judgment on them.
That’s an arrow God’s given us at times under His leadership that Christians are allowed to bear to bring the arms in the end for the Lord and for good and for right. Friend, we’re in a battle. It’s time, as the Lord leads, you’re standing in faith and praying in faith. Use all the weapons God allows us. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please?
Original File: ＂ Praying Judgement on the Wicked ＂ Pastor Paul Chisgar Wednesday [qZzxVmHXzCw]