The God Before Whom Nations Stand - July 5th, 2026

[Practice Script] [Title: The God Before Whom Nations Stand] [Text: Acts 17:24–31] [Occasion: July 5, 2026 — Independence Sunday / Semiquincentennial Sunday] [Approach: Deductive] [Purpose: Practice reading and pulpit rehearsal]

[Scripture Reading]

[Go Slow] [Read KJV Clearly]

Acts chapter seventeen, beginning in verse twenty-four.

Acts 17:24–31 (KJV) 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

[Pause]

[Introduction]

[Start Low] [Measured Tone]

A people can inherit God-words long after they have forgotten God.

[Pause]

Athens had an altar to an unknown god. America has founding language about a Creator whom many now treat as unknown.

[Emphasize]

That is the burden of the text before us this morning.

We have just come through another Independence Day, and we ought to be grateful for the mercies of God upon this land. Gratitude is not idolatry. Thanksgiving is not compromise. Those are not small mercies.

[Go Slow]

But national gratitude must never become national worship. Patriotism must never become idolatry. A flag must never become a cross. A founding document must never become Scripture. And America must never be presented as though she were Israel.

[Emphasize]

America is not Israel.

[Pause]

But America is a nation. And Acts 17 says that God made nations, appoints nations, bounds nations, commands men within nations, and will judge the world in righteousness.

So this morning we are not taking a patriotic detour from Scripture. We are opening Scripture and allowing Scripture to judge even our patriotism.

[Declaration Bridge]

[Go Slow]

On July 4, 1776, representatives of the American colonies adopted words that changed the course of history. They appealed to “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” They declared that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.” Near the end, they appealed to “the Supreme Judge of the world,” and they expressed “a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence.”

[Pause]

Those are weighty words.

Creator.

Providence.

Supreme Judge.

[Diagnostic Questions] [Climb Slightly]

But here is the question: what happens when a nation keeps the words but loses the meaning? What happens when men say “Creator,” but live as though they created themselves? What happens when men say “Providence,” but trust only in human power? What happens when men appeal to the “Supreme Judge,” but refuse to repent before Him?

[Transition]

That question takes us straight to Mars’ Hill.

[Sub-Introduction]

[Context: Paul in Athens]

Paul is in Athens, not in the synagogue. He is speaking to men who do not already know Moses and the prophets, in a city filled with temples, idols, philosophers, and religious curiosity. Athens was not irreligious. Athens had worship, but not truth; devotion, but not revelation; an altar, but not knowledge. Earlier in the chapter, Paul preached Jesus and the resurrection, and they brought him to the Areopagus to hear this doctrine.

[Emphasize]

And when Paul stood before them, he did not begin by flattering Athens, and he did not begin by mocking Athens. He began with what they had already admitted.

He said, in verse twenty-three, “For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.”

Then he said, “Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.”

[Application of Paul’s Method]

That is the pattern for this morning.

Paul did not make the Athenian altar his Bible. He used their altar as a bridge. Paul did not make pagan poets his authority. He used their better words to expose their darker worship. He found a point of contact, but he never surrendered the truth.

That is how we use the Declaration of Independence. We say, “You speak of this Creator, of Providence, and of the Supreme Judge. Now let us hear what God says of these things.”

[Refrain] [Emphasize]

The Declaration gives the vocabulary. Acts 17 gives the revelation.

[Sermonic Proposition]

[Clear and Firm]

So the focus of our message is this: because God made man, governs nations, commands repentance, and has appointed Christ to judge the world, all men and all nations must seek Him while He may be found.

[Preview / Sermon Map]

In Acts 17:24–31, Paul declares five realities about the God before whom every man and every nation must stand.

[Pause]

[Transition] [Move Into Body]

[Main Point I: The Creator Who Gives Life]

First, He is the Creator who gives life.

[Text: Acts 17:24–25] [State the Point Memorably]

Acts 17:24–25 (KJV) 24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;

[Anchor to Text]

Look again at verse twenty-four. “God that made the world and all things therein…”

[EXP: Begin with God]

[Go Slow] [Doctrinal Weight]

Paul begins with God.

He does not begin with man. He does not begin with human rights. He does not begin with government. He does not begin with liberty. He does not begin with national history. He begins with God.

That is the proper order of reality.

Before there is liberty, there is life. Before there are rights, there is creation. Before there is government, there is God. Before there is citizenship, there is creaturehood.

“God that made the world and all things therein.”

This is the Creator.

He made the world. He made all things therein. He made the heavens above us, the earth beneath us, the breath within us, the bodies we inhabit, the families into which we are born, the minds by which we think, and the days by which we measure our lives.

He is not one god among many. He is not the god of one hill, one temple, one city, one nation, or one tradition. He is “Lord of heaven and earth.”

[Emphasize]

If He is Lord of heaven and earth, then no person, family, church, nation, court, army, school, culture, or conscience stands outside His authority.

[Pause]

He is Lord of heaven and earth.

[EXP: God Not Contained]

Paul says He “dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”

That statement struck directly at Athens. Athens was filled with temples, shrines, altars, statues, and works of art. It was a city where religion and culture had been carved into stone. But Paul says the true God cannot be contained in human architecture.

No building, motto, ceremony, or national reference can contain or domesticate Him.

He “dwelleth not in temples made with hands.”

[EXP: God Not Needy]

Then verse twenty-five says, “Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing.”

God is not needy.

He is not enriched by man. He is not strengthened by man. He is not made more glorious by man’s ceremonies. He is not dependent upon America. He is not dependent upon any nation.

[Emphasize]

God does not need America.

[Pause]

America needs God.

[EXP: God Gives Life]

And Paul says why: “seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things.”

That sentence is big enough to humble the whole world. Every heartbeat, breath, meal, sunrise, child, day, ability, possession, and liberty is mercy on loan.

[Illustration]

[Show It]

A man may speak proudly against God, but he does so with breath God gave him.

A nation may write “Creator” and then rebel against the Creator, but it still lives on borrowed mercy.

[Declaration Bridge: Creator]

The Declaration says men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. Acts 17 identifies that Creator. He is not a vague higher power. He is not a national mascot. He is not a ceremonial ornament. He is the Lord of heaven and earth, who gives life, and breath, and all things.

[Application: Modern Confusion]

This is where modern man is deeply confused. We want rights, liberty, gifts, and moral claims without dependence, creaturehood, a Giver, or accountability. But if God gives life, breath, and all things, then life is sacred, breath should praise Him, and all things are held in stewardship before Him.

That means your life is not self-originating. Your body is not self-owning. Your identity is not self-defining. Your time is not self-governing. You are created.

[Encouraging Turn] [Warm Tone]

That is humbling, but it is good news. Your life has meaning, your body has purpose, your days are not accidental, and you are the creature of God.

[Application: Personal]

The first fact about you is not that you are American. The first fact about you is not that you are free. The first fact about you is not that you possess rights. The first fact about you is that you were made by God.

And a nation that speaks of the Creator but rejects His authority is trying to keep the gift while rejecting the Giver.

[Summary of Point I]

So first, He is the Creator who gives life.

[Transition] [Move On]

But Paul moves from the Creator of all things to the Creator’s rule over all nations.

[Main Point II: The Governor Who Rules Nations]

Second, He is the Governor who rules nations.

[Text: Acts 17:26] [State the Point Memorably]

Acts 17:26 (KJV) 26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

[Anchor to Text]

Verse twenty-six says, “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

[EXP: One Blood]

[Take Fire Gently]

That is one of the great statements of human dignity and human equality in all the Word of God.

God hath made of one blood all nations of men.

The Declaration says, “all men are created equal.” Acts 17 tells us why.

Human equality is not a political invention. It is a creation truth.

[Emphasize]

One God made one human race of one blood.

This cut against the pride of Athens. The Greeks often looked down on others as barbarians. But Paul says all nations of men share one origin under one Creator.

That truth cuts against racial pride, class contempt, national arrogance, tribal hatred, and every effort to treat any person as less than human—unborn, aged, disabled, poor, foreign, or enemy.

[Pause]

All men are of one blood.

[EXP: Human Dignity Before the State]

That does not erase real distinctions between nations, families, languages, and peoples. Scripture recognizes nations. Acts 17 recognizes nations. But beneath all those distinctions stands a deeper creation truth: all men come from the hand of the same Creator.

And that is why government cannot be the source of human dignity. If dignity comes from government, culture, or courts, they can redefine or remove it. But if God made man, then dignity is older than the state. Human worth rests upon creation.

[EXP: Providence Over Nations]

Then Paul says that God made all nations “for to dwell on all the face of the earth.”

God is not merely the Maker of isolated individuals. He is the Governor of nations. He created man. He made nations. He placed them upon the face of the earth.

And the verse continues, “and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”

[Emphasize]

That is providence.

God determines the times and bounds of nations—their seasons, opportunities, limits, rise, humbling, and place in history.

[Memorable Line]

[Go Slow]

Providence is not luck with a church hat on.

[Pause]

Providence is God ruling history.

America did not appear on the map because history sneezed. Nations are not accidents of geography. God appoints nations. God measures nations. God blesses nations. God chastens nations. God can remove nations.

[Go Slow]

America is a nation.

And Acts 17 says God governs nations.

That means America’s existence is not meaningless. Her blessings are not ownerless. Her sins are not hidden. Her future is not guaranteed.

[Application: Patriotism Under God]

We may thank God for national mercies without turning national history into redemptive history, excusing national guilt, making the state ultimate, or turning love of country into idolatry.

Patriotism should be gratitude under God, not national self-worship.

[Application: Rulers]

This also means rulers and citizens are accountable. Civil authority is never ultimate.

[Application: Prayer]

And church, this is one reason we pray for all in authority. Our hope is not in princes, yet princes remain under God.

[Application: Children]

And we teach our children gratitude for country, while teaching them that no nation is ultimate, Christ is King, and the church’s mission is to preach Christ to all nations.

[Summary of Point II]

He is the Governor who rules nations.

[Transition] [Move On]

God appoints nations, times, and boundaries for a purpose. Paul tells us what that purpose is.

[Main Point III: The Revealer Who Is Near]

Third, He is the Revealer who is near.

[Text: Acts 17:27–29] [State the Point Memorably]

Acts 17:27–29 (KJV) 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: 28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.

[Anchor to Text]

Verse twenty-seven says, “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.”

[EXP: Purpose of Providence]

Why did God make all nations? Why did He appoint their times? Why did He set the bounds of their habitation?

“That they should seek the Lord.”

The purpose of national existence is not merely prosperity. It is not merely security. It is not merely trade, culture, defense, education, or influence. God has ordered history so that men should seek Him.

[EXP: Feel After Him]

[Go Slow]

But notice the words: “if haply they might feel after him.”

That is the language of groping.

It is the picture of a man reaching in the dark. Fallen man has enough light to know there is a God, but in sin he still gropes, suppresses truth, makes idols, and takes the gifts while refusing the Giver.

[Comparison: Athens and America]

Athens was full of religion, but Athens did not know God.

America is full of God-language, but many Americans do not know God.

A man can say “Creator” and still live as a rebel.

A nation can say “Providence” and still trust itself.

A people can say “Supreme Judge” and still refuse repentance.

[Application: Declaration as Bridge Only]

The Declaration can say true things. It can speak of Creator, Providence, Supreme Judge, and political liberty. But it cannot reconcile sinners, give new birth, prepare a soul for judgment, or deliver from sin.

Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can do that.

[EXP: God Is Near]

Paul says God “be not far from every one of us.”

God is not far: He gives life and breath, His works declare Him, conscience bears witness, His providence surrounds us, His Word reveals Him, and Christ has come.

[EXP: Paul Quotes Poets]

Then Paul says in verse twenty-eight, “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

Paul quotes their poets.

He does not quote them as Scripture, prophets, or sufficient truth. He uses their better words to expose their darker worship.

They had enough truth in their own writings to know their idolatry was foolish.

If we are God’s offspring, then God is not our offspring.

If God made us, then we must not make God.

[Anchor to Text]

Verse twenty-nine says, “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.”

[EXP: Rebuke of Idolatry]

There is the rebuke.

Man dishonors God when man tries to reduce God to something man can manage, shape, carry, explain, decorate, or control.

The Athenians made idols of gold, silver, and stone.

We may think we are more sophisticated.

But modern idolatry is alive and well.

[Take Fire] [Concrete Applications]

Men make idols of self, pleasure, money, politics, nation, science falsely so called, technology, sexuality, comfort, grievance, identity, family, and tradition.

And perhaps most dangerously, men make an idol called “God” who always agrees with them, never rebukes them, never commands them, never judges them, never contradicts them, and never demands repentance.

That is not the God of Acts 17.

That is a god graven by man’s device.

[Emphasize]

Paul says we ought not think that way.

If God made us, we must not remake Him in our image.

[Application: Religious but Lost]

It is possible to speak of God and still be idolatrous.

It is possible to be religious and still be ignorant.

It is possible to be patriotic and still be lost.

It is possible to appreciate the Declaration and still not know the God before whom the Declaration appealed.

So do not mistake civic religion, respectability, cultural Christianity, or knowing about God for knowing God.

[Summary of Point III]

God has made Himself near. He has spoken in His Word. He has sent His Son. He has given the gospel. And because He has done that, Paul does not leave Athens with philosophy. He brings them to command.

[Transition] [Move On]

[Main Point IV: The Commander Who Requires Repentance]

Fourth, He is the Commander who requires repentance.

[Text: Acts 17:30] [State the Point Memorably]

Acts 17:30 (KJV) 30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

[Anchor to Text]

Verse thirty says, “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent.”

[EXP: Turn in the Sermon]

[Climb Higher]

This is the turning point.

Paul has moved from creation to providence, from providence to nearness, from nearness to idolatry, and now from idolatry to repentance.

God “commandeth.”

That word has authority in it.

God is not offering Athens a suggestion or America a moral improvement plan. He is not asking the nations to consider Him as one option among many.

He commandeth.

And whom does He command?

“All men.”

Where?

“Every where.”

To do what?

“To repent.”

[Emphasize]

The command is universal. The command is present. The command is personal.

The command is not limited to the irreligious, the immoral, or pagans in Athens. It reaches respectable, religious, philosophical, patriotic, church, family, public, and private people.

God now commandeth all men every where to repent.

[Application: Liberty Under Command]

The freest citizen in the freest nation is still under divine command.

This is where our thoughts about liberty must be brought under God.

Liberty is a blessing. But liberty is not autonomy. Liberty is not the right to sin without consequence. Liberty is not freedom from God. Liberty is not self-rule against the Creator.

[Memorable Lines] [Go Slow] [Emphasize]

Rights without repentance become rebellion.

Liberty without the fear of God becomes license.

A free people still stand under divine command.

[Quote: Samuel Miller]

[Go Slow] [Historical Support]

This is why political liberty cannot be preserved by documents alone. Documents, laws, constitutions, and structures matter, but no paper can regenerate the heart; no bill of rights can make a sinner holy.

Samuel Miller preached on Independence Day in 1793 from the text, “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” He was careful to say that the verse properly speaks of spiritual liberty, but he also applied the principle to political liberty. And then he said this: “The truth is, that political liberty does not rest, solely, on the form of government, under which a nation may happen to live. It does not consist, altogether, in the arrangement or in the balance of power; nor even in the rights and privileges which the constitution offers to every citizen… Human laws are too imperfect, in themselves, to secure completely this inestimable blessing. It must have its seat in the hearts and dispositions of those individuals which compose the body politic.”

But Acts 17 goes deeper still. It says God commands repentance.

[Application: Public and Personal]

Nations, families, churches, and patriotic men can have right words and still need repentance.

In the language of that lamented statesman and sage, John Quincy Adams, we say to our countrymen,—

“And now the future is all before us, and Providence our guide.

“When the children of Israel, after forty years of wanderings in the wilderness, were about to enter upon the promised land, their leader, Moses, who was not permitted to cross the Jordan with them, just before his removal from among them, commanded that when the Lord their God should have brought them into the land, they should put the curse upon Mount Ebal, and the blessing upon Mount Gerizim. This injunction was faithfully fulfilled by his successor Joshua. Immediately after they had taken possession of the land, Joshua built an altar to the Lord, of whole stones, upon Mount Ebal. And there he wrote upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the children of Israel: and all Israel, and their elders and officers, and their judges, stood on the two sides of the ark of the covenant, borne by the priests and Levites, six tribes over against Mount Gerizim, and six over against Mount Ebal. And he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that was written in the book of the law.

“Fellow-citizens, the ark of your covenant is the Declaration of Independence. Your Mount Ebal, is the confederacy of separate state sovereignties, and your Mount Gerizim is the Constitution of the United States. In that scene of tremendous and awful solemnity, narrated in the Holy Scriptures, there is not a curse pronounced against the people, upon Mount Ebal, not a blessing promised them upon Mount Gerizim, which your posterity may not suffer or enjoy, from your and their adherence to, or departure from, the principles of the Declaration of Independence, practically interwoven in the Constitution of the United States. Lay up these principles, then, in your hearts, and in your souls—bind them for signs upon your hands, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes—teach them to your children, speaking of them when sitting in your houses, when walking by the way, when lying down and when rising up—write them upon the doorplates of your houses, and upon your gates—cling to them as to the issues of life—adhere to them as to the cords of your eternal salvation.”

Benson John Lossing, Lives of the Signers of the Declaration of American Independence. The Declaration Historically Considered (Ft. Worth, TX: WallBuilder Press, 1995), 369–370.

So let us not only talk about what America needs. Let us ask what we need.

It is easy to condemn national sin, grieve cultural rebellion, and criticize politicians while neglecting what God has commanded us to do.

God now commandeth all men every where to repent.

[EXP: Define Repentance]

Repentance is not mere regret, nostalgia, or saying, “America needs to get back to traditional values.”

In Acts 17, repentance means turning from ignorance, idolatry, and wrong thoughts of God to the true and living God. It means bowing to the God who made you. It means surrendering your false gods. It means agreeing with God about your sin. It means turning to Him in faith.

[Pastoral Encouragement]

And that command is mercy.

God does not command repentance because He is cruel. He commands repentance because judgment is coming and mercy is available now.

[Illustration]

[Show It]

If your house were on fire and someone shouted, “Get out,” you would not accuse him of being harsh. If the bridge were out and someone blocked the road, you would not call him unloving. If the doctor told you the truth about a deadly disease, you might tremble, but you should not hate him for truth.

God commands repentance because He tells the truth.

[Application: Direct Appeal]

[Take Fire]

And the command comes to you today.

If you are lost, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are saved, repent where sin has been tolerated—prayerlessness, bitterness, secret sin, fear of man, coldness toward Christ, trusting politics more than prayer, complaining more than witnessing, or teaching your children to love America more clearly than Christ.

Church, we must not substitute outrage for obedience. We must not substitute nostalgia for holiness. We must not substitute political identity for gospel witness. We must not substitute a memory of Christian influence for the reality of walking with God.

God now commandeth all men every where to repent.

[Transition] [Lower and Then Climb]

And Paul tells us why repentance is urgent.

A day has already been appointed.

[Main Point V: The Judge Who Raised Christ]

Fifth, He is the Judge who raised Christ.

[Text: Acts 17:31] [State the Point Memorably]

Acts 17:31 (KJV) 31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

[Anchor to Text]

Verse thirty-one says, “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.”

[EXP: Appointed Day]

[Go Slow] [Solemn Tone]

Those words should sober every soul.

God hath appointed a day.

History is not wandering. History is moving toward a day.

The world is not spinning without purpose. It is moving toward a court date.

Nations, men, rulers, churches, families, and souls are not finally judged by historians, public opinion, elections, reputation, appearances, or self-assessment.

God hath appointed a day.

And in that day “he will judge the world in righteousness.”

The judgment will be universal. “The world.”

The judgment will be righteous. “In righteousness.”

The judgment will be personal. “By that man whom he hath ordained.”

[Emphasize]

That Man is Jesus Christ.

Paul had already preached Jesus and the resurrection. That was what confused the Athenians. And now Paul says that God has ordained the Man by whom He will judge the world.

[Declaration Bridge: Supreme Judge]

The Declaration appeals to the “Supreme Judge of the world.” Acts 17 tells us that the Judge has been appointed.

The Declaration gives the vocabulary. Acts 17 gives the revelation.

The Supreme Judge is not a vague idea, an impersonal moral force, the court of history, or the conscience of mankind. He is the risen Christ.

[Anchor to Text: Resurrection]

And Paul says God has given assurance of this “unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.”

The resurrection is God’s assurance, proof, and public declaration that Jesus Christ is the appointed Judge of the world.

[Emphasize]

This keeps our focus Christian.

Not merely theistic. Not merely patriotic. Not merely moral. Not merely historical.

Christian.

[Christological Climax]

[Climb Higher] [Take Fire]

The Judge before whom nations stand has nail prints.

The One who will judge the world is the One who died for sinners.

The One ordained as Judge is the One crucified as Saviour.

The One who will sit upon the throne once hung upon the tree.

The One before whom every knee shall bow is the One who shed His blood for the ungodly.

[Explicit Gospel]

[Go Slow] [Clear and Direct]

Jesus Christ is God the Son. He is fully God and fully man. He came into this world without sin. He lived the life we have not lived. He fulfilled righteousness. He went to the cross. He shed His blood. He died in the place of sinners. He was buried. He rose bodily from the dead. He ascended to the right hand of the Father. He saves all who come to God by Him. He keeps those who are His. He will return. And God will judge the world in righteousness by Him.

[Application: Personal Readiness]

That means the issue this morning is not merely whether America will survive another century.

The issue is whether you are ready to stand before Jesus Christ.

You may be patriotic, conservative, religious, family-loving, founder-admiring, and liberty-defending—and still be unprepared to meet Christ.

You may say “Creator,” “Providence,” and “Supreme Judge,” and still hear Christ say, “I never knew you.”

[Emphasize]

The question is not, “Do you have God-words?”

The question is, “Do you know God through Jesus Christ?”

[Judgment Warning]

God hath appointed a day.

The final court is already scheduled. The Judge is already appointed. The resurrection is God’s assurance. No man and no nation will miss the summons.

And in that day, your patriotism, morality, baptism, church attendance, family heritage, political convictions, and good intentions will not save you.

Only Christ saves.

[Quote: Charles Carroll]

[Go Slow] [Optional Historical Close]

Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last surviving signer of the Declaration, wrote near the end of his long life, “On the mercy of my redeemer I rely for salvation and on his merits; not on the works I have done in obedience to his precepts.”

[Pause]

That is the only safe place for any sinner to stand: on the mercy and merits of the Redeemer, not on works, heritage, nation, reputation, or anything but Christ.

[Transition to Conclusion] [Lower Tone] [Prepare Landing]

The Declaration ends with men pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

[Conclusion]

[Go Slow] [Strong and Final]

That was no small pledge. It was costly. It was solemn. It was courageous.

But the gospel shows us something greater.

Christ gave His life.

Christ shed His blood.

Christ bore our sin.

Christ endured shame.

Christ rose from the dead.

Christ is appointed to judge the world.

Men pledged their lives. Christ gave His.

Men pledged their fortunes. Christ, though He was rich, became poor.

Men pledged their sacred honor. Christ endured the shame of the cross.

Men appealed to the Supreme Judge. Christ is the Judge appointed.

Men relied on Divine Providence. Christ is the risen Lord who rules history.

Men declared political liberty. Christ alone makes sinners free indeed.

[Invitation Setup]

[Warm and Direct]

So the question this morning is not merely whether we are thankful for America, admire the Declaration, or care about liberty. The question is: Are you right with the God before whom nations stand?

[Recap] [Build Rhythm]

The God who made you, gives you breath, appointed your times, commands repentance, appointed a day, raised Christ, and will judge the world now summons you.

[Invitation: Lost Hearer]

[Take Fire]

[Plain Gospel Appeal]

Therefore, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you are lost, come to Christ. Do not hide behind religion. Do not hide behind family. Do not hide behind church attendance. Do not hide behind patriotism. Do not hide behind morality. God commands you to repent. Christ is able to save. His blood is sufficient. His resurrection is sure. His mercy is offered now.

[Invitation: Believer]

[Pastoral Exhortation]

If you are saved, live as a free servant of God. Be grateful, but not idolatrous. Be patriotic, but not blind. Be courageous, but not carnal. Be concerned for your country, but more concerned for the glory of Christ. Pray for rulers. Teach your children. Love your neighbor. Speak the truth. Preach the gospel. Seek the Lord.

[Invitation: Church]

[Corporate Charge]

Church, our task is not to save America by rhetoric. Our task is to preach Christ faithfully, hold forth the Word of life, and tell men that the Creator has spoken, Providence rules, the Supreme Judge has appointed a day, and the risen Christ now saves sinners who come to Him.

[Final Refrain] [Climb Higher] [Emphasize Each Sentence]

Nations may declare liberty, but Christ alone makes men free.

Nations may appeal to the Supreme Judge, but Christ is the Judge appointed.

Nations may rely on Providence, but Christ is the risen Lord who rules history.

[Final Sentence] [Go Slow] [Strong Close]

The God before whom nations stand is the God before whom you stand today.