"When you see a nation deep in sexual sin, pervasively affirming of homosexuality, and the insanity of a reprobate mind, where they make laws to criminalize righteousness and to legalize gross evil, you know that nation's under judgment . . . "
John MacArthur — a popular Protestant preacher and author — delivered the sermon, "Too Late for Grace: When a Nation Rejects God" to his congregation on Palm Sunday. MacArthur's primary text was from the Parable of the Vineyard Owner (Mark 12:1-12), where a vineyard owner allowed tenants to oversee his vineyard when he went to another country. The vineyard owner sent slaves to the tents to collect the vineyard's fruit throughout their stay, but the tenants would beat them or kill them.
In his message, MacArthur explained that the parable was about judgment, saying that "with this parable," Jesus "pledges the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation."
"Vengeance will come, and it must come, and it did," MacArthur said, referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire in 70 AD.
MacArthur also referred to other biblical figures, such as the prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul who delivered messages of judgment and that it was "too late" for some to be saved, respectively.
Paraphrasing God's call to Isaiah in Isaiah Chapter 6, MacArthur said, "Go tell them it's too late. You wouldn't listen, you wouldn't see, you wouldn't believe, and now you can't."
"Tell them it is too late. Judgment is already in motion," he added.
Citing Romans 1 in the New Testament, MacArthur further elaborated what it looks like for a nation that's already under God's judgment, including America.
"When you see a nation deep in sexual sin, pervasively affirming of homosexuality, and the insanity of a reprobate mind, where they make laws to criminalize righteousness and to legalize gross evil, you know that nation's under judgment," he asserted.
"What's our message to this nation?" MacArthur asked. "You're under judgment; it's too late. Judgment has been unleashed. You can hear but not understand. You can see but not perceive."