The Plague Is Upon Us: How to Obtain God’s Mercy and Protection (part 1)

“Novel coronavirus” — words which set fear into people’s hearts — first erupted in Wuhan, China, and from there has spread all over the globe. People are dying in droves all around the world and many more are in a constant state of panic, sensing that the great disasters are upon us. No one knows how long this pandemic will last or how many lives it will claim. Those who believe in God, however, know in their hearts that all things happen with God’s permission, and that absolutely nothing can happen without it. So what is God’s will in permitting this plague to come upon us?

Look Back in History and Seek God’s Will

It is recorded in the Old Testament that the people of Sodom were evil, promiscuous, and corrupt, and that the city was brimming with bloodlust and slaughter, so much so that the people there even wanted to kill angels. Repentance never even occurred to them, and so God rained fire down upon them from heaven and destroyed them all. Those well-versed in the Bible, however, know that before God brought calamity upon the city, Abraham beseeched God on Sodom’s behalf. Here is an extract of this record from the Bible: “And Jehovah said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes. … And he said, … Peradventure ten shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake” (Genesis 18:26–32). These verses not only reveal God’s righteous disposition, but even more so give us a sense of God’s great mercy and lenience. God would have spared Sodom if fifty righteous people could be found there, and He would also have spared the city if just ten righteous people could be found. In spite of how deeply corrupt and wicked people were, God still hoped they would repent. It is a painful fact that not even ten righteous people could be found in such a large city, and so God ultimately had no choice but to destroy it.

The people now living in this world, teeming with temptations, are even worse than the people of Sodom all those years ago. People today have been corrupted by Satan to such an extreme: They adore evil and love unrighteousness; the earth is awash with violence and adultery, and you can see karaoke bars, foot massage parlors, hotels, and dance clubs everywhere along main streets and small alleyways. Such places are filled with evil and promiscuity. Everyone lives to eat, drink, have fun, and indulge in physical pleasures, depraved in the extreme. There is no love between people, but everyone deceives, fights and vies with each other for status, fame and fortune; they cheat and scheme against one another, and even come to blows over money and profit. The whole of mankind lives under Satan’s domain, and no one has any love for positive things, or yearns for the light, or comes forward to accept the grace of God’s salvation. Even believers live in a cycle of sinning and confessing, totally unable to stay true to the Lord’s teachings. They go so far as to follow worldly trends and pursue pleasures of the flesh. Even when they know they are living in sin, they still cannot cast off the bonds of sin — their hearts have strayed too far from God. Didn’t the whole of mankind, corrupted to such an extreme, long ago reach the point where they should have been destroyed?

God Hopes That People Can Repent

Disasters are occurring one after another, and God’s will is for us to come before Him to repent. He wishes for everyone to repent and does not want anyone to perish. Two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). At this point, some of you may say, “Unbelievers don’t believe in God and cannot possibly repent. After gaining faith in the Lord, however, we often cry bitterly before Him as we pray. We admit our past sins, and we won’t do anything bad again. We can be tolerant and patient with others. We can give to charity and make donations and help others, even we can spend all our time toiling and working for the Lord, and we won’t betray the Lord even if we’re arrested and put in prison. Isn’t this true repentance? If we steadfastly practice in this way, then the Lord will protect us and keep us from being swept away by the disasters.” But is this really the case? The Lord Jesus once said, “Whoever commits sin is the servant of sin. And the servant stays not in the house for ever: but the son stays ever” (John 8:34–35). After we gain faith in the Lord, we can be humble and patient, we can help others, and we can make sacrifices, expend ourselves, preach the gospel, bear witness to the Lord, and we have some external good behaviors. What we cannot deny, however, is that the corrupt dispositions that lie within us, such as arrogance, conceitedness, crookedness, deceit, selfishness, and ignobility, have not been cleansed, and we are still capable of sinning all the time. For example, we know very well that the Lord requires us to be honest, but controlled by our selfish, despicable nature, as soon as something infringes upon our own personal interests, we can’t help but tell lies and engage in deceit; controlled by our arrogant, conceited nature, we always make others do what we say no matter what it is, and when they don’t we get angry and lecture them; and when disasters and trials befall, we complain and blame the Lord. These are just a few examples. Our sins are like weeds — they grow right back after being cut down. Even if we cry bitterly every day as we pray and confess our sins, we still do not change. Can this be true repentance? Who could guarantee that God would protect such a person in the midst of the disasters? True repentance is when someone’s satanic corrupt dispositions are entirely cleansed and changed, when they no longer do evil, commit sin, or resist God. It’s when they can truly submit to God and worship God. Only people like this are fit to inherit God’s promises and blessings and enter the kingdom of heaven. Just as it says in the Bible: “[Y]ou shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Leviticus 11:45). “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city” (Revelation 22:14).

Source From: Gospel of The Descent of The Kingdom

Now disasters are occurring. The Lord Jesus said, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Do you know what true repentance is and how to truly repent to God? Click now to read this article to find the answers.”