Incomparable Superlatives

(Sermon Notes) Warren Zehrung 2/1/2020

The title, “Incomparable Superlatives” means that there are no words to describe the extremes and excesses of today’s world in which we live.

Brethren, can you picture a time when all across America there were peaceful, sleepy little towns? The crops were growing… Kids played in the streets… The trains were on time… People kept their word… There was rain in due season. We were enjoying the blessings that God promised to His faithful servant, Abraham

Deuteronomy 11:14  I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou may gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.

That is a picture of divine blessings being bestowed. But times are changing. The title of today’s sermon depicts a new time that can only be described as near chaos and pandemonium. So much of what is taking place now-days is driven by a sense of urgency. It is not only like a roller-coaster with its highest highs and its lowest lows – it is more like an out-of-control car careening wildly from ditch to ditch!

Outstanding things are taking place. So many great things are transpiring that words fail us. They are too electrifying, and can only be expressed with incomparable superlatives. They are sensational and breathtaking.

They are the best, the worst, the biggest, the most beautiful, the most surprising and extraordinary. Just look for the superlatives in the news of the day:

The United Kingdom has exited the European Union! England is an independent nation once again. Over 17 million people opted for Brexit. The government’s Brexit bill completed its passage through the House of Commons and the House of Lords and has received royal assent. It is 47 years since the UK joined the European Economic Community – and last night, those bonds were broken. The United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union – an economic and political union involving 28 European countries. This is a big deal with prophetic implications because Britain will not be a part of the 10 nations that support the “beast-power” just before the Second Coming of Christ (Revelation 17:12-14). England will be a part of the captivity – as the United States will be.
God intended for the UK to be an Island Nation – to keep them as a unique people.

Genesis 10:32  These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

It is God who sets the boundaries of nations:

Genesis 11:6  And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Gen 11:7  Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

Gen 11:8  So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth:

It was for God’s purposes that the nations were scattered… It was for God’s scheduling… It was God’s prerogative… God intervenes in order to keep His Plan on track. That is a place where our faith kicks in…

Remember how God gave Israel Judges in order to prosper Israel? In the same way that Israel prospered under King David, and King Solomon… America – a modern Israelitish nation – is prospering under the administration of President Donald Trump. And of course he will be opposed at every turn by Godless, and lawless adversaries.

It was the same in King David, and King Solomon day – as well as Jesus was resisted by the recalcitrant and disobedient leaders of His day. In Joseph’s day, it was God who gave Israel Seven years of Plenty

It was not Global warming that produced the plenty. Joseph saved the excess for the Seven years of Famine

It wasn’t global cooling that brought the famine. God prophesied that Plenty and the Famine ahead of time – God did it!

In the same way, God is setting up the UK and America for the last-days. The Beast Power is on the ascendancy. The Beast will utilize all the latest technologies in his conquest of the earth. Christians will not be able to hide or escape. If you have a cell phone – your location can easily be tracked.

If you have an “advanced meter” measuring your electrical amps and volts going into your home – your privacy has been compromised. The Beast will know – not only when you make toast in the morning – he will know when you are keeping the Sabbath holy and when you are gone to the Feast.

The Mark of the Beast has to do with Sabbath eradication. You work on the Sabbath – or you will be exposed and executed!

Revelation 13:17  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

Brethren, do not lose a moment sleep worrying about such a thing. God is totally in charge – and His will is being worked out.

Exodus 20:11  For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.

When God says He hallowed the Sabbath Day – it means that He made it the Greatest Day – that is God’s superlative!

It is like when we pray, “Hallowed be thy name” (Matthew 6:9, Luke 11:2) it means that God’s name and reputation is Greatest!

When anyone who advances and defends any of God’s values is called a “hater”, it shows the spiritual warfare being waged by Satan against God through his human proxies.

We were warned long ago. Things will get much worse before they get better.

Isaiah 66:2  For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.

“A contrite spirit is one in which our sinful pride and self-sufficiency has been completely humbled by our dependence on God.”

Who does God dwell with? Over a few pages…

Isaiah 57:15  For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

Let’s continue looking at the superlatives in the news of the day:

The historic partisan lawless sham impeachment of the President of the United States, Donald Trump, is over.
Except for the dotting of i’s and the crossing of t’s in the Senate, the President is being acquitted, found not guilty, and exonerated of impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

President Donald Trump forges ahead with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his “Deal of the Century” to achieve Middle East peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Even the Saudi Arabians are on board with Peace and Safety President Donald Trump and his Jewish son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad Bin Salman told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that “our position towards the Palestinian issue has not changed, all the Arabs and we are with you. The establishment of a just and comprehensive peace must be worked for. Peace is a strategic choice, which will bring a permanent solution that will fulfill the rights of the Palestinian people.”

1Thessalonians 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

It seems that “American Exceptionalism” is in ascendency once again! Today, the powerful USA is unmatched militarily, economically and technologically.
But keep in mind that God created all peoples – and it is not His will that any should perish (Matthew 18:14).

God wants everyone to excel – not sink to the lowest common denominator…

There is Japanese exceptionalism… There is German exceptionalism… There is Chinese exceptionalism… etc.

The USA has entered the greatest trade deals of all times with China, Mexico and Canada—the USMCA Agreement—replacing the “worst” trade deals of all times!
Unemployment is at an all-time low, while employment is at an all-time high.
Rising national debt owed by Americans and the U.S. government is frightening – for a total national debt of $23.16 trillion, or a staggering $66,000 for every man woman and child in America.
Australia is being ravaged by unprecedented wildfires and droughts. At least 28 people have died nationwide, with more than 3,000 homes being destroyed or damaged. The largest blazes have been burning for months with more than 100 fires still burning. It is estimated that the total number of animals destroyed could be as high as one billion. (Leviticus 26:18-19, Deuteronomy 28:23-24)
An estimated 75,815 people in mainland China could be infected with the unpresented Novel Coronavirus researchers in Hong Kong say, far exceeding that of the 2002-03 Sars epidemic. Until the true size of the epidemic and its pandemic potential become clear quarantine and travel restrictions will remain in effect. “China Closes Foxconn, Johnson & Johnson, and Samsung Factories Amid Virus Outbreak”
A Plague Of “Billions” Of Locusts Threatens To Create A Horrific End Times Famine All Over Africa
Billions of locusts swarming through East Africa could prove disastrous for a region still reeling from drought and deadly floods, experts have warned, amid increasing calls for international help.

Dense clouds of the ravenous insects, each of which consumes its own weight in food every day, have spread from Ethiopia and Somalia into Kenya, in the region’s worst infestation in decades…

The density of some of these locust swarms is absolutely amazing. According to officials, a single locust swarm can have “up to 400 million locusts per square mile.

In fact, one of the largest swarms in northeastern Kenya was measures to be 37 miles long by 25 miles wide…

French Internal Intelligence Report shows that 150 Paris neighborhoods are being controlled By Radical Islamists. These neighborhoods are “no-go” suburbs of Paris for the police and gendarmerie. The suburbs of Lyon and Marseille, all have had longstanding issues with radical Islam.
Franklin Graham, Billy Graham’s son, responds after UK venue cancels tour event over evangelist’s views.
Evangelist Franklin Graham released a statement Monday after an entertainment venue in the United Kingdom canceled his event due to objections over his views.

Graham rejected the claim that he was “coming to the UK to bring hateful speech to your community.” Franklin Graham said, “This is just not true. I am coming to share the Gospel, which is the Good News that God loves the people of the UK, and that Jesus Christ came to this earth to save us from our sins,” he stated:

“The rub, I think, comes in whether God defines homosexuality as sin. The answer is yes. But God goes even further than that, to say that we are all sinners—myself included.”

This year, Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans are taking place from Monday, January 6, through Tuesday, February 25, 2020.
The parades, costumes, floats are the biggest and most extravagant of all time.

Mardi Gras – from New Orleans to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city’s iconic Fat Tuesday (Shrove Tuesday) parades and festivities. Mardi Gras Day is February 25. “Fat Tuesday” is the last day of the Carnival season as it always falls the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of 40 days of Lent – leading up to Easter.

Mardi Gras has traditionally been celebrated as a debaucherous prelude to Lent, a six-week-long religious fast observed before Easter.

It is an annual celebration of excess and indulgence with parades and masquerade balls.

Tomorrow’s Super Bowl (54) Sunday Professional Football’s Kansas City Chiefs vs San Francisco 49ers battling it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy.
LSU national championship – greatest season – greatest college team ever.
Brethren, those are only a few of this week’s news items that are “exceptional” and described in superlatives. Greatest, worst, biggest…

It is enough to make your head spin. Mind boggling! Who would have thought that we would see the day? It’s part of what God told the Prophet Daniel:

Daniel 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

This un-Godly world is bursting at the seams. There will soon be no place for God’s people to exist. It seems that so much of what is going on is greater in magnitude than ever before. Record are being broken everywhere we turn.

There are historic floods and droughts. The stock market is surging upward toward untold heights. We are not so much on a roller coaster, but a sky-rocket headed straight up. With the stock market Dow reaching toward 30,000, it may seem nice for those with a 401(k) retirement savings plan – but it is an unsustainable house of cards.

Everything is bigger and greater than what has gone before – not only the accomplishments, but the setbacks and disasters as well. It is almost like there is no level playing field. Everything is expressed in hyperbole.

Take the animosity between the two chambers of Congress – the House of Representatives and the Senate. The degree of hate and vitriol can only be expressed with incomparable superlatives.

Socialism and Conservatism cannot coexist. That battle is raging right now. The inevitable clash will be disastrous and devastating—and we are seeing some of that now.

Conservatism is a system of government where people work, produce and get paid. It is the system of economy that God designed when He said:

Genesis 2:15  And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

2Thessalonians 3:10  For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

And God provided adequately for the fatherless, the widow, the foreigner without means and the destitute.

Deuteronomy 10:18  [God] doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and widow, and loves the foreigner, in giving him food and raiment.

Socialism is a system where the government decides who’s money and property to take and whom to give it to. Socialism advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned and regulated by a few who are in charge of the government.

Socialism has never worked anywhere it has been tried. The latest country to try Socialism is the fabulously oil-rich nation of Venezuela. After only a few short years of Socialism the people are starving and trying to leave the country! Read about the history of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin – if you are looking for results.

The allure of Socialism is that the government will take care of you, and give you everything free. Free education, free housing, free food, free healthcare… It sounds so compassionate – until you realize that someone has to work, and someone has to save and invest in the means of production.

Socialism is Godless because it steals from one and gives it to another.

Exodus 20:15  Thou shalt not steal. The Hebrew means thieving deception.

Brethren, do you realize just how close – a single vote or two – and we would have seen our democracy crumbling before our eyes? Our brilliant, spirit led, founding Fathers realized just how precarious our Republic was.

“When the people find that they can vote themselves money that will herald the end of the republic.” ― Benjamin Franklin

As Jesus said, (Matthew 7:27)  “And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

This division between Socialism and Conservatism will breakdown the fabric of society.

With everything demanding our time and attention – there is very little time for the great Eternal God—who is greatest of all.

And when there is no time for God – expect His correction factor to kick in.

Ezekiel 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

The greatest part of this evil world is not yet ready to believe and do what Jesus says. They do not possess His uncompromising standards. But we are different. God has set His standards before our eyes. We must be prepared by living as Christians should.

Brethren, as we approach Passover it is fitting and proper that our self-evaluation be accompanied with a proper measure of repentance—nationally and personally. As a nation and a people, we must return to our God.

1John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the Children 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; for we shall see Him as He is.

Even now, as His begotten children we are able to have a unique relationship with God. Now we are able to approach unto God – not as men but as Children of God. We have been reconciled to God the Father by Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 10:22 Let us draw near [to God] with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

In our daily lives, we must be reflecting the light of Christ, seeing and doing things as He does – for all to see. Jesus is the Savior of the Church. Before Jesus Christ came to this earth, it was impossible for men to draw near to God. But, because of Christ’s redemptive act of paying for our sins with His death on the cross, He made reconciliation with God the Father possible.

Colossians 1:19-22 It pleased the Father that in [Jesus] should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.

Prior to those two perfect acts of love: First, by God the Father in the giving of His Son (John 3:16), and Secondly, by Jesus Christ on the cross in the giving of His life – mankind could not approach unto God because of their sin.

Isaiah 59:2 Your iniquities [sins] have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear you.

However, because of repentance, faith and conversion, Church brethren are able to avail themselves of God’s reconciliation.

From the time before the fall of man until the fruition of God’s Plan, only the Bible reveals knowledge of God’s direct involvement in man’s quest to come out of the darkness of ignorance and sin, and into the glorious light and liberty of God’s radiant life.

2Corinthians 4:6 God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ [Jesus’ face shone like the sun].

Matthew 17:2 [Jesus] was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

On the wrong side of the scale is the eternal darkness of death, while the ultimate goal of the Plan of God is for mankind to attain to its vital and glorious destiny of becoming sons and daughters of God in His eternal Kingdom. That is the purpose for which man was created.

It is God’s Plan and desire that every human being that has ever lived be a child of God – each in his own order. God can and does intervene in our lives at all times to keep us headed toward His Kingdom.

Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart devises his way: but the Lord directs his steps.

God’s first offspring to be added to His family will come from His Church. They will be the first to become God beings.

Evidence of this is found in God’s instructions to the Philadelphians in the Book of Revelation. Keep in mind that only God is to be worshipped—not angels or men. Jesus is referring to those who are persecuting the saints:

Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you.

The resurrected saints will be worshipped, as God is worshipped, by those men who once reviled them.

This is only one of many verses that shows that those who constitute the Church will be a part of God’s divine family of beings.

The goal and purpose for mankind is that we might be made the righteousness of God:

2Corinthians 5:21 For [God the Father] hath made [Jesus] to be sin for us [on the cross], who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. King David said it this way in Psalm 119:105: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The narrative of the Bible is clear: Mankind must come entirely out of darkness and walk in the light. ‘Walking in the light’ means living according to the principles that Jesus taught.

End: Incomparable Superlatives