A sincere Christian man asked me the following question in a letter recently: "Whom do we believe? Over the years I've read the works of many ministers who were convinced the end was near. Yet over and over they've missed it. I realize now that some were just trying to sell a book. But others truly thought God was telling them the end was upon us.
"So, whom do we believe? I felt back in 1980 we might be close to the end. But if I had withdrawn my family's investments at that time, we would have missed great opportunities. Do you think America stands at the same juncture now as I thought back in 1980? Or will we continue on as we have for many more years, possibly even decades?
"I sense that you are one of the godly voices in this country. That's why I read with interest each of your newsletters. I also have read your recent book, America's Last Call. I'm writing now to ask, how do we know if this is the end?
"Right now, many people are basing major life decisions on their belief in your relationship with God. I am as well. I'm giving this subject of a coming crisis more consideration than ever, because of what I believe about your walk with the Lord.
"I believe the directives God gives his children should be very similar. In other words, if we're about to enter a time of major chaos, with a collapsing market and food and medical shortages, surely God would want all of his children to have the same knowledge about this. He may direct us individually to take various actions, but on these major subjects we all should at least know the same thing. So, why don't we? And how will we know when God is speaking to his people?
"I realize I'm asking for more of an explanation than may be possible. I pray for each of us during this time, that we may be in God's will."
I have never believed I'm a prophet. In fact, I tremble before the Lord when I hear that many wonderful believers like this man put great stock in what I write and preach. In my later years of ministry (I am now sixty-seven years old), I have striven to base everything that I say in a prophetic vein on scripture and not on a vision or voice.
Still, at times I have been utterly broken before God about these things, crying out to him at the top of my voice: "Oh, Lord, I've been preaching for twenty-five years that judgment is at the door. I've been writing books and delivering warnings about a coming economic crisis for years. Yet I only see the opposite happening. I see America prospering and going merrily along its path. Our nation is killing over five thousand babies a week. We're sliding down into pits of unbelievable filth and pushing you out of every institution. How long, Lord?"
I feel I'm uttering the same cry of frustration that Jeremiah raised to God. He also spent years faithfully prophesying events that hadn't yet been fulfilled. He cried out, "O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived: thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily" (Jeremiah 20:7-8).
But Jeremiah could not stop warning God's people. Even though his prophecies seemed to be unfounded, he kept prophesying. He wrote, "Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forebearing, and I could not stay" (Jeremiah 20:9).
Beloved, I spend many hours shut in with God, and the Holy Spirit continually assures me I'm not deceived about the warnings I give. Judgment eventually did fall on Israel, in every detail that Jeremiah had outlined. Yet the prophet didn't gloat about it or say God's judgment was validation of his ministry. On the contrary, Jeremiah was filled with grief as he witnessed his prophetic words coming to pass.
I feel the same fire burning in my soul that Jeremiah felt. And I'm more convinced than ever that our nation is about to be cast into a devastating depression. No matter how high the stock market may swing, no matter how incredibly it might rebound, America is still on the brink of a mighty crash. God has "set his face" against this nation for its bloodshed and arrogance against his name, and his judgment is due!
Yet I thank God for the many promises he has given us in his word to protect and bless his people in and through all storms. Those promises are at the heart of my latest book, God's Plan to Protect His People in the Coming Depression.
God's praying people do not need to fear. Nor should we worry or fret. Our heavenly father has everything under control. Although I see his judgments coming on our nation, I rejoice because I know what our Lord has promised in his word.
God be praised!
I am enclosing a few of the promises of protection included in my book.
Psalm 9:8-10
He shall judge the world in righteousness, he shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee.
Psalm 12:5-7
For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise, saith the Lord; I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.
Psalm 16:7-9
I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
Psalm 17:7-8
Shew thy marvelous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
Psalm 18:19
He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
Psalm 20:6-9
Now know I that the Lord saveth his anointed; he will hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his right hand. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Save, Lord: let the king hear us when we call.
Psalm 22:4-5
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
Psalm 27:5
In the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.