US and China agree to slash tariffs, markets surge

Today’s news, like every day’s news, fits into two categories.

First, there are stories that are relevant to everyone reading this article. This morning’s announcement that the US and China will suspend most tariffs is an example. After weekend talks in Geneva, the US will drop its tariff on China from 125 percent to 10 percent; China will do the same. The reductions will last for ninety days as the two sides begin further negotiations.

At this writing, stocks are surging around the world on the announcement. Since the economy obviously affects all of us, this news is significant for all of us.

Second, there are stories that are only relevant to a portion of us. Some examples:

• A Soviet spacecraft crashed back to Earth Saturday. Because it plunged into the Indian Ocean and not on your house, you are likely reading this news with only passing interest.
• America’s largest cities are sinking due to groundwater extraction. You probably want to know if your city is on the list before deciding how much you care.
• A supercomputer has predicted the exact year life on our planet will end. Unless you plan to be living on Earth in the year 1,000,002,021, you are presumably not alarmed.

However, there’s a forgotten third category in the news, one that you and I overlook to our peril and that of our nation.

Those who “call evil good and good evil”

I was reading Isaiah 5 over the weekend and found some statements that seemed as relevant to our culture as if they were written yesterday.

For example, the Lord pronounced “woe” on greedy people “who join house to house, who add field to field, until there is no more room” (v. 8) and on those “who rise early in the morning, that they may run after strong drink” (v. 11) but “do not regard the deeds of the Lᴏʀᴅ” (v. 12).

A few verses later, this warning especially caught my eye: God pronounces “woe” on those “who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (v. 20) and on those “who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (v. 21).

In response, the Lord will remove his “hedge” of protection from Judah and “it shall be devoured” and “trampled down” (v. 5). His prophetic warning came to pass when the Babylonians destroyed the Jewish temple, pillaged the country, and took many of its people into captivity (vv. 13, 26–30).

God is “not wishing that any should perish”

When the sins of the nation brought divine judgment, every inhabitant was affected, not just those who committed these sins. This is because the consequences of sin always affect the innocent, which is one reason Satan tempts us as he does.

I do not know when God will bring judgment on America for our sins. But I do know that because his nature does not change (Malachi 3:6), he must judge sins today as he has judged sins in the past. For example, Peter reminded us that God turned “the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes” and “condemned them to extinction” so as to make them “an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6).

I also know that our present prosperity, like that of Judah in Isaiah’s day, is no guarantee of God’s future blessing. As he warned Judah, “Surely many houses shall be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant” (Isaiah 5:9). On that day, “the nobility of Jerusalem and her multitude will go down . . . and the eyes of the haughty are brought low” (vv. 14–15) while “nomads shall eat among the ruins of the rich” (v. 17).

And I know that God delays his judgment only because he is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). However, “the day of the Lord will come like a thief . . . and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed” (v. 10).

Three biblical responses

How should we respond biblically?

First, resolve to be part of the solution rather than the problem:

The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires (Romans 13:12–14).

How much “provision for the flesh” will you make today?

Second, speak biblical truth to the immorality of our day:

Is not my word like a fire, declares the Lᴏʀᴅ, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29).

You and I cannot convict a single sinner of a single sin or save a single soul. But when we declare God’s word, his Spirit uses his truth to change hearts and transform nations. From Jonah in Nineveh to spiritual awakenings stirring in surprising ways today, his word always accomplishes his purpose (Jonah 3; Isaiah 55:10–11).

How will you use your influence to share biblical truth on the crucial issues of our day?

Third, point people beyond ourselves to our Savior.

Like modern-day John the Baptists, our motto should be simple: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). In Leo XIV’s first sermon after becoming pope, he closed his homily by describing his new role as leader of a congregation of over 1.4 billion people:

It is to move aside so that Christ may remain, to make oneself small so that he may be known and glorified, to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.

For what purpose will you “spend” yourself “to the utmost” today?

“God’s grace is not infinite”

I know that today’s article is not easy to read. It was not easy to write.

However, I am convicted that too many of us are too unconcerned about the sins of our culture, “at ease in Zion” in the belief that if we don’t commit such sins, we are safe from their consequences (Amos 6:1). I hope today’s article has convinced you that this is not true, that we need to pray and work for moral transformation and spiritual awakening with passionate urgency before it is too late for our nation and God’s judgment affects us all.

The noted theologian R. C. Sproul observed:

“God’s grace is not infinite. God is infinite, and God is gracious. We experience the grace of an infinite God, but grace is not infinite. God sets limits to his patience and forbearance. He warns us over and over again that someday the ax will fall and his judgment will be poured out.”

How will you respond to this warning today?

Quote for the day:

“When the day of recompense comes, our only regret will be that we have done so little for him, not that we have done too much.” —George Müller

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