“If you ask an American, who is his
master? He will tell you he has none, nor any governor but Jesus Christ.” [1]
Attributed to Jonathan Trumbull Governor
of Connecticut to King George, 1774 but the governor who said this and the
colony he governed at that time are not named but it was this response to the
British board of trade from which the Motto of the American Revolution, “No
King but Jesus”, arose and though that statement might have been true of most
people in that generation, it sadly is not true today as we have drifted away
from the godly principles upon which this nation was founded because it has
drifted away from the God upon whose principles this nation was founded. There was a time when God was a part of daily
life and not just private life but public life as well. He was not confined to just the Church or
even the home, He was included in our education and in the business of government. Sin was not called a disorder but called out
for what it was. Godliness and upright
living were instilled in the culture. People were held accountable for bad behavior
and bad actions and without excuse. Truth
reigned from the pulpits more so in those past generations than it does today. The immoral and evil acts tolerated,
affirmed, and even celebrated in our culture were at one time held in contempt
and were scandalous but now as commentator and now ambassador to Israel Mike
Huckabee had once stated:
we've systematically have attempted
to remove God
from our schools, our public
activities…It's far more than just taking
prayer or Bible reading out of the
schools; its the fact that people
sue a city so that we aren't
confronted with a manger scene or Christmas carol,
and lawsuits are filed to remove a
cross that's a memorial to fallen soldiers.
Churches and Christian owned
businesses are told to surrender their values
under the edict of government orders
to provide tax funded abortion pills.
We carefully and intentionally stop
saying things are sinful and we call them disorders;
sometimes, we even say they're
normal, and to get to where we
have to abandon bedrock moral truths:
then we're asked, 'Well, where was God?'
And I respond that as I see it, we've
escorted Him right out of our culture
and we've marched Him off the public
square, and then we express
our surprise that a culture without
Him actually reflects what it's become. [2]
And now more could be added to what
he said which was over a decade ago as not only has God been removed from the
classroom and symbols of the Christian faith been largely removed from the
public square but now our children are being taught that a man can become a
woman or a woman can become a man, and that there is more than two genders which
are not determined by biology but what they identify as. Women have been forced to share facilities
designated for them alone with men claiming to be women and to allow them to
participate in their athletics thus not only compromising the integrity of that
which was designated for women, but also putting their safety at risk. That is not a nation over whom Jesus is still
King.
Before Jesus can be King of America,
He must first become King over all of our lives and our homes and for the sake
of the nation, it should be once more if we are to expect His continued favor
and mercy upon our nation.
But the further away we drift from
God as a nation, the further away that we drift from His favor and from the
blessings and prosperity that we might otherwise see bestowed upon our nation,
but the closer to Him we draw as a nation and people, then the closer to us He
will draw.
Pastor Steven Andrew is right in this
however: [3]
We who know our God do need to arise and be bold in proclaiming His Word
and His truth to all people and in calling as many as are willing and can be
persuaded to repent of their sins and to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus
for the forgiveness of sins as this is a matter of life and death and liberty
or tyranny for our nation and we would do well to commit ourselves to the
following as Andrew calls upon his audience to do:
Daily reading and study of scripture.
That we should obey God rather than
men.
That we should purpose in our hearts
to have no other authority than Jesus.
That we should purge all sin from our
lives.
And that we should reject all things
that lead to tyranny.
But I find it rather amusing that
Steven Andrew would declare that his ministry is single-handidly bringing about
the longed for Great Awakening in our nation as revival does not begin with any
one ministry or with any one person. It
begins in the hearts of each and every one of us and the more of us in whom
this revival begins, the closer to God the nation becomes and to the blessings
and prosperity that we might see once more.
It should be no coincidence that when
we as a society drifted away from our Creator that we should see a rise in
social instability, a moral decline, break up of families and households, growing
corruption within the institutions that we had trusted to steer the course of
society including the government, a weakened economy, increased vulnerability
to dangers from both without and within our borders, increasing assaults on our
Constitutional freedoms, a decline in our quality of education, an
entertainment industry that spews forth depravity and celebrates the things of
darkness while mocking, ridiculing, and even vilifying that which is good and
pure, a rise in rampant crime and lawlessness making our cities increasingly
unsafe, that wisdom within our churches, religious organizations, halls of
academia, private sector, and seats of authority should be traded for absolute
nonsense and foolishness, that there should be increasing deception and
falsehood and less truth and I have found this to be true not just on the left,
but to a certain extent even on the right as well and not just outside the
Church, but even within the Church which is supposed to be a light to the world
and a bastion of truth and if there is to be a Great Awakening, there must
first be a reformation within the body of Christ and if that doesn’t happen,
there will be no Great Awakening because without a reformation within the
Church for the better, we will never be the light to the world the God called
us and intended us to be and that reformation will require of us to purge out
from amongst our respective congregations, households, and from our own lives
all that is obscuring that light and if there is anything obscuring the light
of Christ which is to shine through us it will be sin that we have harbored in
our lives, tolerated within our fellowships, and have even affirmed and
celebrated, false doctrines and heresies that have spread throughout our
members deceiving many into believing in a false gospel, a false Jesus, and a
false god, that have led them away from the pursuit of the pure doctrine that
is delivered to us by the divinely inspired written Word of God (2 Tim. 3:16),
and in some cases, even leads some away from the faith altogether.
When sin is tolerated, affirmed, and
celebrated within the Church, something needs to change.
When biblical literacy is,
statistically speaking, at dismal levels, something needs to change.
When professing Christians are holding
to beliefs that are contrary to scripture, something needs to change.
When scripture or even part of
scripture is viewed as irrelevant to our present generation, something needs to
change.
When a majority of professing Christians,
including those in leadership positions, do not even know what a biblical
worldview is, even when they profess to hold to one, something needs to change.
When the Bible is deemed insufficient
to address all that pertains to this present life and our relationship with
God, something needs to change.
When the priorities of the saints
become worldly centered and not heavenly centered, something needs to change.
When professing Christians place more
trust in the wisdom that comes from the world than the wisdom that comes from
God, something needs to change.
When they fear man more than God,
something needs to change.
When those who profess Christ are not
the people outside of the four walls of the church that they appear to be in
the four walls of the church, something needs to change.
And when our faith is treated as just
a Sunday hobby, something needs to change.
Otherwise, we are not fulfilling the mission that our Lord and Savior established
us and commissioned us to do and cannot hope to have any impact on the culture
in which we live because rather than keep ourselves set apart from the world as
we are commanded to do (Rom. 12:2) we have been conforming to its ways and the
only way that we will ever fulfill our mission on earth as God intended is if
we begin to prioritize the things of heaven above the things of this world, (Mt.
6:33)
rely more on the wisdom that comes
from above (Jas. 1:5) than that which comes from the world,
fear God more than man, (Mt. 10:28)
obey God above man, (Acts 5:29)
trust in God to meet all of our needs
instead of our own abilities, our own wisdom, and the things of this world,
(Mt. 6:25-33)
restore confidence to the authority
and sufficiency of the scriptures,
diligent study of the scriptures (2
Tim. 2:15) and not be just readers and hearers thereof but doers thereof, (Jas.
1:22)
place our hopes in the new and better
world to come (Rev. 21-22) than in this present world which will one day pass
away,
be ready to make a case for the faith
we profess when so required (1 Pet. 3:15) and to earnestly contend for the
faith whenever necessary (Jude 3) and that means holding accountable those who
bring in false doctrines and heresies into our ranks and who persist in doing things
that are not pleasing to God, (Mt. 18:15-17, 1 Cor.
5:1-8, 11, 13, Titus 2:10, 13, Mt. 7:15-20, Acts 20:28-31, 2 Cor. 11:3-4,
12-15, Gal. 1:6-9, 1 Tim. 1:19-20, 4:1-3, 7, 5:22, 6:3-5, 20-21, 2 Tim.
2:16-18, 23, Titus 1:10-16, 2:11, 2 Pet. 2, 3:15-16, 1 Jn. 4:1-3, Jude)
be ready to serve the Lord in
accordance to whatever respective calling He has placed on each and every one
of us
be committed to living lives that are
pleasing and honoring to God in all that we do and to include Him in every aspect
of our lives,
value the heavenly rewards and honors
more than earthly rewards and honors because the heavenly rewards and honors
last forever. The earthly ones don’t.
And be ready to stand firm in our
faith whenever faced with challenges, opposition, and persecution.
And finally, let us be all be ready
for the Lord’s return because we do not know when He may return for us. (Mt. 24:36)
When that kind of a reformation
within the Church takes place, then and only then can we ever have any hope of
seeing revival in our land and a return of the nation to the God upon whose
principles this nation was built but it must begin within each and everyone of
us and to any of my readers who may not have yet called upon the name of the Lord
Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, I urge you today to do so because a day is
coming when we will all have to stand before the Lord God Almighty to give an
account for all that we have done in this life and the reason why Jesus came
into this world to take away our sins is because we are unable to attain to
salvation by our own merit no matter how hard we try and the reason why is
because we are all born into sin and because of sin within us, we will always
fall short of the glory of God and moral perfection (Rom. 3:23) and what sin is,
is not merely a bad action or ill-spoken words.
It is the inherently corrupt nature that lives inside each and everyone
of us influencing not just our actions or our speech but also our thoughts,
motives, and attitudes of the heart and thereby causing us to do things that
prevent us from entering into the Kingdom of God that we would otherwise not do
or even think about doing but it was not intended for us to be this way in the
beginning when God had first created the world, He created it to be good and He
made all things in it to be good as is declared after each day of creation in
the first chapter of Genesis. It was a
world filled with a perfect peace and harmony between God, man, and nature
until an act of disobedience disrupted that harmony and that act of
disobedience involved the eating of a fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
which Adam, being the first man whom God had made, and Eve, being the first
woman whom God had made and was Adam’s wife, were warned not to eat from or
else they would surely die in the day that they ate therefrom (Gen. 2:16-17,
3:3) but rather than heed that warning, at the behest of a lying voice that
came to them in the form of a serpent which falsely assured them that they
would not surely die if they ate of that forbidden fruit, but that instead,
they would become more enlightened and even divine (Gen. 3:4-5) and after
having eaten of that forbidden fruit (v. 6) instead of becoming more
enlightened as that lying voice had told them, they only became enlightened to
a shame that came over their nakedness (v. 7) and instead of becoming gods,
they were reduced to a mortal state and a status inferior and lower than the
one in which they were made, and as warned, the sentence of death was
pronounced upon them (v. 19) as they had been warned but the sentence of death
did not stop with Adam and Eve for it was sin which entered into them that
brought death to them and the sin that entered into them and brought to death
to them was then passed down to all of mankind because it is from Adam and Eve
all mankind descend and because we are all descended from them, we have also
inherited from them the very sin that entered into them (Rom. 5:12) and just as
they died because of sin, so we all die because of sin; (Rom. 6:23) sin being
defined not by just our actions, behavior, conduct, and what we say, but as the
inwardly corrupt condition of our nature that not only influences our outward
acts and what we say, but also our very thoughts, motives, and the attitude of
the heart which is why it is written that we are not defiled from without but
from within (Mt. 5:11, 17-20) but the consequences of the transgression that
brought sin into the world and death with it did not confine themselves to man
but spread to all creation which is why it is written that the creation groans
and travails in pain to this day (Rom. 8:19-22) and it is the reason why
suffering, pain, misery, and hardship of every sort and severity abound in the
world today and why creation itself is dying a very slow death and it gets even
worse from there because that lying spirit who came to Adam and Eve in the form
of a serpent and led them into the transgression that brought sin and death
into the world claimed lordship over the nations and kingdoms of the earth (Mt.
4:8-9, Lk. 4:6-7) which is why he is called the prince of this world (Jn.
12:31, 16:11) thereby diminishing the dominion which God had initially given to
mankind over the earth (Gen. 1:26) thereby accomplishing on the earth what he
could not in Heaven but before all of this, this spirit, before he became a lying
spirit was once a covering cherub named Lucifer who had once served at the
throne of God until he became lifted up in pride and thought to make himself equal
to God and as a consequence, he and all who sided with him were cast from their
places in Heaven (Is. 14:11-21, Ezek. 28:12-19) and it was in that day that Lucifer
became known as Satan and after having been cast from his place in Heaven, he
then came to the earth and by way of causing Adam and Eve to commit the
transgression that brought sin, death, and the curse into the world, he was
able to take dominion for himself over the entire world and fill it with his
darkness and with his evil by which he brings death, decay, suffering, misery,
grief, sorrow, and pain of every sort into the world and it is by a lie that he
brought sin, death, and suffering into the world which made him the father of
lies and not only a liar but a murderer by his lies (Jn. 8:44) and by his lies
and deception, he is also the thief who comes to steal, kill, and destroy (Jn.
10:10) and it was in the garden that the age-long war which began between God
and Satan became now a war for the souls of men and in being a war for the souls
of men, it is also a war for the souls of nations, kingdoms, and civilizations and
what side in this age-long war the people of a nation take determines its
course. One side will lead a nation to
liberty, peace, and prosperity. The
other side will lead it to misery, oppression, and ultimately to destruction and
there is coming a day when this present world with all the evil in it will pass
away but that also means that all who remain in their sin will be eliminated
along with it and when that day comes, they will have nothing to look forward
to but a fearful judgment of everlasting torment in a fiery dark place called
Hell because God cannot allow that which is sinful and evil into His Kingdom
lest the Kingdom be defiled as the earth has been defiled but God takes no
pleasure in judgment and punishment because He is a God of life, love, and
mercy and is not willing that any should perish but that all would come to repentance.
(2 Pet. 3:9) and for our redemption, He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus
Christ, who is Himself God, (Jn. 1:1) into the world to take away the sins of
the world (Jn. 3:16) which He did by offering Himself up to death; the sinless
Christ (2 Cor. 5:21, Heb. 4:15) dying on behalf for sinful, thereby serving as
that needed perfect sacrifice (Heb. 7:26-27) needed to purchase our redemption
which was purchased by the death of Christ upon the cross on which He was
crucified and after having purchased our
redemption by His death, He was raised again from the dead so that we by our
faith in Him would be justified in Him (Rom. 4:25) so that any calling upon Him
for the forgiveness of sins in sincere faith and repentance would be justified
before God the Father by Him and in Him (Rom. 10:13) and with the redemption of
our souls comes a transformation (2 Cor. 5:17) that causes us to no longer
desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those things that
pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven, (Mt. 6:33)
to no longer take pleasure in those
things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that
which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the
lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ
Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present
world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly
resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our
needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt.
6:25-33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He
brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets
our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might
acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
to no longer fear what men can do to
us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an
account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible
institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God
who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our
lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His
Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our
lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but
the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible
men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that
those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and
servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves
with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of
the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, nor
depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but
only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
And we look forward to the day that,
just as our souls have been redeemed and delivered from eternal damnation, when
we shall also be delivered from bodily death when that which is sinful is made
sinless and that which is corruptible is transformed into that which is
incorruptible (1 Cor. 15:51-55, 1 Thess. 4:13-18) for wherein dwells no sin
there is no death and finally, creation itself will also be liberated from the
curse that has come upon it because of sin when the adversary of our souls
faces his final defeat and receives his final sentence when he and all who have
sided with him are forever cast away into a lake of fire which burns forever
and ever (Rev. 20:10-15) and after that has been done, the creation will be
made anew, and it will be a creation in which there will dwell no death, no
decay, no evil, no darkness, no grief, no sorrow, and no misery, and no
hardship, but only light, life, happiness, peace, contentment, and joy before
the Lord God Almighty for all eternity. (Rev. 21-22)
If you desire to be a part of a new
and better world to come and have not done so already, then I urge you reader
to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus who is the source of all truth for the
forgiveness of sins. It is but a sincere
prayer of repentance away.
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of
God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with
the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of
your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive
you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in
nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
End notes:
1.
Mike Huckabee, “Where Was God?” Fox News, December 15, 2012
http://video.foxnews.com/v/2038135300001/huckabee-where-was-god/?#sp=show-clips
2. Hezekiah Niles, “Principles and Acts of the
Revolution in America,” pg. 198,
Baltimore; William Odgen Niles, 1822
https://ia601308.us.archive.org/9/items/principlesactsof00nile/principlesactsof00nile.pdf
3.
Pastor Steven Andrew, “No King But Jesus,” USA.Life, publication date
unknown
https://usa.life/post/5882830_quot-watch-no-king-but-king-jesus-important-learn-how-to-have-god-039-s-favor-a.html
4. Ibid. 29:45-30:20
Scripture references:
1. 2 Timothy 3:16
2. Romans 12:2
3. Matthew 6:33
4. James 1:5
5. Matthew 10:28
6. Acts 5:29
7. 2 Timothy 2:15
8. James 1:22
9. Revelation 21-22
10. 1 Peter 3:15
11. Jude 3
12. Matthew 18:15-17
13.
1 Corinthians 5:1-8, 11, 13
14.
Titus 2:10, 13
15.
Matthew 7:15-20
16.
Acts 20:28-31
17.
2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 12-15
18.
Galatians 1:6-9
19. 1 Timothy 1:19-20, 4:1-3, 7, 5:22, 6:3-5,
20-21
20.
2 Timothy 2:16-18, 23
21.
Titus 1:10-16, 2:11
22.
2 Peter 2, 3:15-16
23.
1 John 4:1-3
24.
Jude
25. Matthew 24:36
26. Genesis 2:16-17, 3:3
27. Genesis 3:19
28. Romans 3:23
29. Genesis 3:4-5
30. Genesis 3:6
31. Genesis 3:7
32. Romans 6:23
33. Matthew 15:11, 17-20
34. Romans 8:19-22
35. Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:6-7
36. John 12:31, 16:11
37. Genesis 1:26
38. Isaiah 14:11-21, Ezekiel 28:12-19
39. John 8:44
40. John 8:32
41. John 10:10
42. Genesis 1:26
43. 2 Peter 3:9
44. John 3:16
45. 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15
46. Hebrews 7:26-27
47. Romans 4:25
48. Romans 10:13
49. 2 Corinthians 5:17
50. John14:6
51. 1 Corinthians 15:51-55, 1 Thessalonians
4:13-18
52. Revelation 20:10-15
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