A Nation Under God?, Part A

today on grace to you the question is is this a nation under god we know that's what the founding fathers intended and not just any god but the god of scripture god has designed the human soul to worship him the fallenness of humanity causes human beings to turn from worshiping the true god to worshiping just about anything and everything else what in the world makes us so embarrassed about the gospel i determined to know nothing among you except jesus christ and him crucified [Music] [Music] our lord said if any man will come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me the church of jesus christ of course is the assembly of his followers that's why we're here we follow him the message that the lord has laid upon my heart this morning will be a sobering message i am quite confident it certainly has been for me to try to process this over the last week as i thought about it there is uh now in the flag salute of our nation a statement one nation under god that was added to the flag salute in 1954 the question is is this a nation under god we know that's what the founding fathers intended and not just any god but the god of scripture nations are obligated to worship the true god did you hear what i just said they're obligated to worship the true god and there are dire circumstances that will come upon them if they fail to do that number one man was created by god in the image of god for the glory of god every person is given as a part of being human the divine image and the knowledge of god's nature and god's law so that the law of god is written in every heart and the truth about god resides in every heart so that the bible says if they do not come to god they are without excuse now we know the instinct to worship is strong in every soul everybody worships god has designed the human soul to worship him that the fallenness of humanity causes human beings to turn from worshiping the true god to worshiping just about anything and everything else mankind rejects the true law of god and so the apostle paul says there is none who seeks for god there is no fear of god before their eyes and every mouth is stopped that is without an excuse and all the world guilty and accountable to the one true god romans 3 so man is created by god in the image of god for the glory of god and commanded to worship the true god secondly all people are to worship only the true god mankind worships we get that but his fallenness directs him away from the true god to false gods as jesus said in john 4 22 to the samaritan woman you know not what you worship j.c rile dealing with this very issue said this any worship is more pleasing to the natural heart than worshiping god in the way our lord jesus describes it as worshiping in spirit and truth the natural goes in the opposite direction of god that is why the scripture constantly commands everyone back from that deviation to worship the true god god said there's no god besides me there is no god besides me that is there are no other gods scripture says back in deuteronomy 32 it's repeated in first corinthians 10 that all the gods of the nations are demons they are satanic counterfeits demonic delusions there's only one god all the rest are some form of demon worship the first commandment is this you shall have no other gods beside me you shall not worship any other god for the lord whose name is jealous is a jealous god exodus 34 you shall not worship them or serve them for i the lord your god am a jealous god visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children on the third and fourth generations of those who hate me but showing loving-kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments worship the true god and you will be blessed worship any other god and you fall under a curse you say well doesn't that apply only to israel no not at all there is a prophet that everyone knows about at least they know about one part of his life and that was when he was swallowed by a great fish but there's something much more important in the big scheme of things in looking at jonah third chapter of jonah he goes to nineveh nineveh by the way is modern mosul in iraq at least in that same location the word of the lord came to jonah the second time chapter three arise go to nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation which i'm going to tell you so jonah arose and went to nineveh according to the word of the lord nineveh was exceedingly great city a three days walk then jonah began to go through the city one day's walk and he cried out and said yet forty days in nineveh will be overthrown then the people of nineveh believed in god and they called a fast and they put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them and when the word reached the king of nineveh he arose from his throne laid aside his robe from him covered himself with sack lash cloth and sat in the ashes he issued a proclamation and it said in nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles do not let man beast heard or flock taste a thing do not let them eat or drink water but both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth and let men call on god earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands who knows god may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger so that we will not perish when god saw their deeds that they turned from their wicked way then god relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them and he didn't do it that's not personal salvation that's a nation turning to the true god acknowledging that there is one true god and it saved that nation from immediate destruction unfortunately the next generation and the next deviated from that went back to the natural bent of their sinful hearts and around 627 bc that great city of nineveh was wiped off the face of the earth by the judgment of god they worshipped ishtar they were pagans they were non-jews the expectation to worship the true god was not just for israel it was for every nation and god pronounced doom on a pagan nation that did not worship him in deuteronomy 6 5 said you shall love the lord your god with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind there's only one god only one true god all humanity is commanded to worship that one true god and the fundamental reason the fundamental plan of god as far as nations are concerned is to bless the nations that acknowledge him as the true god we're not talking about personal salvation we're talking about a national recognition of who is the true god the third thing to say is this failure to worship god and to worship any other god brings judgment it certainly brings judgment on individuals but it also brings judgment on nations that judgment becomes inevitable because when you turn from the one true god you therefore turn from his law and when you turn from his law reverence is gone morality is gone fear is gone virtue is gone and god is gone that's the cycle of the history of nations acts 14 god has allowed all the nations to go their own way it's the way of destruction that's what paul is talking about in romans 1 they knew god the glorified not as god and the wrath of god was unleashed on them god gave them over to lusts and impurity gave them over to unlawful degrading passions women with women and men with men gave them over to a depraved mind and they heartily approved behaviors that they knew led them to judgment where am i going with this pretty simple when any government separates from god and his law in scripture and from his people and his church it invites judgment on a personal scale and a national scale it's unavoidable because god is immutable he doesn't change when government thinks its only responsibility is for physical material social temporal needs and ignores the spiritual reality of the true god and people's spiritual needs when a nation becomes indifferent to the true god in his word and his law it makes a grave mistake which is if not reversed will lead that nation to its own destruction the notion of a secular state is a lie government is ordained by god now the reformers were right in seeing three uses for the law of god use one was to show the sinner what holiness was like so the sinner could see how far short he falls be convicted and repent personally and receive the salvation that god offers through christ so the first use of the law is to awaken the sinner to his sin and judgment the second use of the law is then to become the standard for believers behavior as they walk in sanctification and holiness but the third use of the law said the reformers and they were right is to restrain sin in society and god's law does restrain sin and government is to be its enforcer romans 13 1 every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities for there is no authority except from god and those which exist are established by god rulers are not a cause for fear for good behavior but for evil for government is a minister of god to you for good but if you do what is evil be afraid for it doesn't bear the sword for nothing for government is a minister of god an avenger who brings evil on the one who does evil wrath comes on the one who does evil and the executor of that wrath in the government are those that carried the weapons and deadly force so god's law first of all it's designed to show sinners how far short we fall of god's holy standard and how desperately we need a redeemer and a savior secondly to provide a standard of behavior for us to live sanctified lives but thirdly god gave the law to restrain sin in a society and as long as this society follows biblical law there will be restraint on sin so the law of god has a personal purpose to convict the sinner lead him to salvation it has a sanctifying purpose as the regulation for the living of a sanctified life but it also has a national purpose to restrain sin so what are we saying there is no god except the god of the bible there is no true morality but the morality of the bible there's no true worship but the worship of the true and living god the god and father of our lord jesus christ there is no personal blessing apart from him there is no national blessing apart from honoring him and there is no way to him except through jesus christ all irreligious immoral indifferent governments will self-destruct and that self-destruction is only apparently a self-destruction it's really a divine judgment godless complacency or open rebellion against god ends up with the same result a society that turns from god will be open to all false religions welcoming the doctrines of demons the society that turns from god will be open to all moralities and all immoralities all perverse freedoms all sexual preferences all ideas and opinions all lies all deception all sins all iniquities you might want to call it post-modern but i think we're at the end of the post-modern era and we're moving fast toward paganism there's a new term called research justice it's social justice has gone to the university in recent years and research justice says if you're a white heterosexual male your research no matter what it is is unacceptable you're an oppressor we don't accept your research this blunts the edge of all advancement and drives us back to tribes in the jungle a nation that turns from god will lose control of absolutely everything chaos will begin to take over and it'll lead to anarchy and anarchy usually leads to a police state or a dictatorship we have a reprobate mind we don't think rationally if you think rejecting cutting edge scientific advancement because it comes from a white heterosexual male will advance the society that shows that you have a reprobate mind that's insanity that is lunacy removing the worship of the true god is a disaster to a nation first timothy 2 1-2 paul said first of all then i urge that in treaties and prayers petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men four kings rulers all who are in authority so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity this is paul saying god desires people to live a quiet and tranquil life that's not salvation language that that is simply societal peace well-being the enjoyment of common grace but for that to happen we have to pray for the leaders who are in authority pray that they will submit to god first that they would be saved they would submit to god when god and christ and scripture are dishonored in a nation there will be violence there will be noise transgressions and shame there will not be a tranquil peaceful life in all godliness and dignity joshua 24 20 if you forsake the lord and serve foreign gods then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after he has done good to you there's no question that god has done good to this nation but he will consume this nation if it stays on the path it's on removing the worship of the true god removing the authority of his word the voice of the church the moral education of children and youth removing the gospel because it's too offensive is the path to national destruction god chose israel and laid out these same realities to israel and israel was disobedient and it destroyed israel and they had a covenant promise from god their destruction was not final because god promises to save them in the future no other nation has such a promise of restoration and national salvation in the future if god didn't spare israel historically he's not going to spare people who are not part of his covenant listen to how broad the bible says worship of the true god is psalm 33 8 let all the earth fear the lord let all the nations of the world revere him psalm 117 1 praise the lord all you nations and extol him all you peoples now that has to come from leadership so psalm 72 11 says let all kings bow down before him and all nations serve him all kings all nations you remember the story of the prophet daniel and nebuchadnezzar who thought himself to be god and he was turned into a beast for years he wandered in the meadow insane with growing fingernails and animalistic behavior daniel 4 34 says at the end of that period i nebuchadnezzar raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me and i blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom endures from generation to generation nebuchadnezzar said this he does according to his will in the host of heaven and allah and among the inhabitants of earth all his works are true and his ways just and he's able to humble those who walk in pride there was a pagan king so pagan that he tried to paganize daniel and his three friends unsuccessfully and god turned him into a reprobate mind acting like a beast until he came to his senses and acknowledged that the most high is to be praised and honored his dominion is an everlasting dominion his kingdom endures from generation to generation god is to be worshipped by all nations all leaders or judgment will fall turn for a moment to joshua chapter 10 you remember that when moses went to be with the lord the mantle of leadership was turned over to joshua and joshua took the children of israel into the land of canaan which had been promised of course to abraham long before but when joshua entered into the land i want you to see what he did go to the end of chapter 10 verse 40. well verse 38 joshua and all israel with him returned to de beer and they fought against it he captured it in its king and all its cities and they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed every person who was in it he left no survivor just as he had done to hebron so he did to de beer and its king as he had also done to libna and its king first thing joshua does is go into the land of paganism and he is the executioner of the lord's wrath verse 40 then thus joshua struck all the land the hill country and the negev in the south and the lowland and the slopes and all their kings he left no survivor but he utterly destroyed all who breathed just as the lord the god of israel had commanded this seems very disturbing to many people who read this in the old testament but none of those kings died under that judgment who weren't going to die under judgment another way had god not done this god is the one who destroys both soul and body in hell used joshua as his executioner go over to chapter 11 verse 17. further from mount halak that rises towards seer even as far as val gad in the valley of lebanon at the foot of mount hermon that's way in the north he captured all their kings and struck them down and put them to death joshua waged war a long time with all these kings there was not a city which made peace with the sons of israel their hearts were so hard verse 20 it was the lord then who sealed the hardness of their heart to meet israel in battle in order they might utterly destroy them that they might receive no mercy but that he might destroy them just as the lord had commanded moses verse 23 so joshua took the whole land according to all the lord had spoken to moses joshua gave it for an inheritance to israel according to their divisions by their tribes broke it up into the twelve tribes and the land had rest from war just glance at chapter 12. here are the kings defeated and slain all of chapter 12 lists them 31 kings the end of chapter 12. that is shocking to many people that god is an executioner of pagan kings who have not acknowledged him god is the same god today it's not to say he is not compassionate and merciful he is and the old testament is clear on that but for those who reject him and his offer of forgiveness and salvation he is the inevitable judge [Music] they knew god they glorify him not as god and the wrath of god was unleashed on them does that sound like the world we are seeing all around us for those that know god and seek to glorify him as god we can be thankful that god promises to spare his wrath on us because of the price paid by his son on the cross thank you for joining us today and remember grace to you exists for one purpose and that is to help you understand the truths of scripture one verse at a time numerous free resources are now available to you through our website gty.org we'll see you next time for the conclusion of pastor john's message titled a nation under god next week on grace to you reject the son of god and you will anger god and his wrath will fall on you he that rules over men must be righteous ruling in the fear of god get rid of the evil advisors and a ruler has a chance at ruling righteously

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 23,737

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Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You

Id: C8DDKNy2XWU

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 05 2021