The state of the nation / how should we live

Good morning,

I am not Pastor John, Pastor Johns best friend came into town and he has been gracious enough to allow me to practice my preaching skills on you this morning. He also told me to give you an encouraging message this because he knows I can speak quite frankly, that hasn’t changed.

introduce myself

Prayer,

Today I want to talk to you about living for the Lord in this age. When I say I want to talk to you, I am speaking to those whom God has called, I am speaking to the elect, to those chosen in Christ Jesus to do good works before the foundation of the world.

The nation we live in today has many remnants of the blessings that come from a nation that once acknowledged God and gave thanks to him, however this will soon pass.

-salah-

We cannot live in America and not expect it to affect our families or how we perceive the world. Therefore, it is my goal today to give us some perspective as to exactly where God has us in American history and where He would have us in His will. I am going to start with a broad overview of America’s spiritual history.

The men that founded this country did so that they might practice their religion according to the dictates of their conscience. I could talk about how Scripture tells us of the importance of keeping your conscience clear here right now and how in our current state of affairs Christians are in many cases told. through legislation to disobey their conscience, but that is a whole other message all together.

These men that founded our country recognized many Biblical principles and used the Bible to promote morality throughout the country. Understandably, not everyone who founded this nation was a Christian and I am not here to argue who and who was not a believer. The point to be made is that as a nation the Bible and Biblical principles were held in high regard. It is noteworthy that 29 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence had seminary degrees. John Adam’s a signer of the Declaration and our second president declared “It is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free constitution is pure virtue.”

Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.

Though out most of our nation’s history the Bible and Christian principles have been revered. When a nation acknowledges God it is blessed HOWEVER in our fallen world the devil uses the fact that Scripture is being promoted and morality is being enforced through government to attack with a false gospel and with false hope. Man in his futile attempts to get right with God always attempts to work his way to righteousness rather than to receive the righteousness that comes by faith in the risen Christ Jesus. In a nation that acknowledged the God of the Bible, it was not uncommon for people who had not received Jesus and believed on Him alone for salvation to create and cling to other gospels which included the works of man for salvation.

In the 1920’s most western countries considered themselves to be Christian nations and Christian principles were still very strong in America. In fact, shortly after the first world war over 20 States had passed legislation prohibiting the teaching that man had evolved from a lower life form. However, a major change was about to take place over the next two generations ago. A group of lawyers in New York did not like that citizens were making local laws that prohibited evolutionary teaching and in 1925 the ACLU challenged a new Tennessee law that prohibited evolutionary teaching. The lawyer the represented the ACLU was a was a confessed agnostic, the defense attorney representing the state of Tennessee was an outspoken Christian. These were the two top trial lawyers in the country and the trial became a nationwide spectacle. In the end, the ACLU lost in court but on the public stage they had won. For the first time God and the Bible had been mocked in court and on a national stage and one generation later in 1963 the supreme court ruled that the Bible could no longer be used for readings in public education. The winds of change against God had happened in the United States. When you examine the statistics and see what has been happening with our nation since 1963 on SAT scores, people contracting sexually transmitted disease, birth rates for unwed mothers, and single parent households. The results are staggering.

Before 1963 the top public school problems were

1. Talking

2. Chewing Gum

3. Making Noise

4. Getting out of turn in line

Today the top public school problems are

1. Rape

2. Robbery

3. Assault

4. Arson

About 20 years ago my generation as a whole came to reject not only the truth of God, but truth all together. When talking to someone about general revelation and even the concept of absolute truth, it was not uncommon to hear, “Well that is your truth but it is not my truth.” Someone who talks like that does not believe in absolute truth. They have come to believe that personal opinion is truth. What do you ask someone when they claim that absolute truth does not exist?

And to bring us up to date, after abandoning absolute truth many people today in this generation, can no longer even recognize the fundamental differences between a boy and a girl. They fail to understand why a boy should not go into a girl’s bathroom if the boy feels like he was born a girl.

My purpose in reviewing this history is twofold.

1) I want us practically speaking to recognize that without a great awakening, we are nearing the end of one of the world’s greatest nations.

2) I want us to recognize that God has placed us in this nation at this time for a specific purpose.

Acts 17:26-27 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

How then should we live?

Purpose – It is imperative that we always keep the vision Christ had for us in mind.

Matt 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

There is no greater purpose in the life of a believer than to fulfil the great commission. If you are living for the Lord, you should be expecting God to use you every day to further His gospel until He returns to pick you up. God has empowered each member of His body with specific gifts for the tasks he has prepared for them. There are many talents, skills and gifts God has given. Don’t compare yourself to another member of the body, you are created for a special purpose. It is up to each individual to find out what their gifting’s are and be prepared to use them for the kingdom.

Prayer – Keeping in touch with the one has plans for you.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

In addition to daily surrendering to the Lord’s will, it helps to keep in touch with the guy that is directing the traffic. God has plans for you, so make sure you are tuned in.

While is true that there are more effective ways to pray than others there is never a wrong way to pray. I think pouring your heart out to God is one of the most important things you can do, even if you are angry with Him. This verse speaks to one of the most important aspects of prayer which is thanksgiving. We should be thankful to God for what He has done in our life before we present our requests. Another important aspect to prayer is praise and is how I like to start prayer.

Principled – We must be men of the Word, trained in righteousness and standing for truth.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

As men of God we need to be reading God’s Word daily, so that we can lead our families in God’s grace and truth, witness to our neighbors about the gospel, and stand for justice in our communities as we help the week and oppressed.

Is this challenging to you?

If you start to do this will you be looked down on, shunned by some, and persecuted by others who call themselves your friends? I hope so…

2 Tim 3:12-15 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it

Progeny – Most of all we need to recognize who’s we are. We are children of the most high God, the Creator and upholder of heaven and earth. There is nothing that has happened or will happen outside of his knowledge. We need to understand that no matter what the circumstances in life, God’s purpose for us in it is for His kingdom, not ours. We must keep our minds on the King of Kings.

To all who receive him, to those who believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. If you have believed on the name of Jesus Christ, the Spirit of God gives your spirit life.

Understand this today…

God has chosen to make known among the nations the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.