A Nation Under God?

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 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 i want to show you that on the 10th of june in the year 1900 at the age of 84 the bishop of liverpool j.c rile went to heaven he was called the man of granite with the heart of a child during his long years of leadership in the church of england he was relentlessly faithful to the bible to the word of god he had been intensely loved and intensely hated because of his fidelity to biblical truth he was even called the lion for the truth his legacy still lives globally his influence is still around because of his writings and my guess is that most of you have read something by j.c rile the scope of his influence is vast but one of the things that particularly interested rile was the relationship between the church and the state he recognized the foundational truth that all people and all nations are called to worship the true god that is not an option that is a divine command i don't think people understand that but i want to help you to understand it let me begin by establishing some foundational truth 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 heart 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 lovingkindness 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 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 rose and went to nineveh according to the word of the lord nineveh was exceedingly great city of 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 in 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 the lord jesus christ repeating 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 they 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 there's only one god he demands that everyone worship him individuals for individual salvation nations recognizing him for a national temporal blessing 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 and 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 in rile's lifetime he called his nation england to biblical law biblical christianity and he said it should be recognized nationally and the scriptures should be promoted for the good of society 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 is 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 law to restrain sin in a society and as long as this society follows biblical law there will be restraint on sin rile wrote this in his day the government of england would allow all its subjects to serve god or baal to go to heaven or to go to hell just as they please the state would take no cognizance of spiritual matters and would look on with epicurean indifference and unconcern that is a deadly thing for a society to face when you hear a presidential candidate say if i'm elected i want to fill my cabinet with muslims this is a blasphemous attack on the true and living god rail also said this in what manner god would punish england if english government casts off all connections with him i cannot tell whether he would punish us by some sudden blow such as defeat in war and the occupation of our territory by a foreign power whether he would waste us away gradually and slowly by loss of commercial prosperity whether he would break us to pieces by letting fools rule over us and allowing parliament to obey them whether he would ruin us by sending a dearth of wise statesmen but one thing i am sure the state that sows the seed of national neglect of god will sooner or later reap a harvest of national disaster and national ruin and england has reaped that harvest so is scotland and ireland who would have thought that ireland would ever legitimize abortion 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 is 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 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 its 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 the 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 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 raise 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 in 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 he used joshua as his executioner joshua struck them from qadesh barnia even as far as gaza and all the country of goshen even as far as gibeon joshua captured all these kings in their lands and at one time because the lord the god of israel fought for israel so joshua and all israel with him returned to the camp at gilgal 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 that he 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 12 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 this puts a huge burden on leadership in a country i know there are a lot of people who are pursuing political power that's a dangerous thing to pursue dangerous because god has requirements for those in power and i want to share just some of them with you because nations are basically formed by those who lead them and by what they demand and what they tolerate a nation will be defined so what does god require let's go back to psalm 2. i'm going to give you a lot of scripture so just kind of hang on and listen psalm 2 verse 10. now therefore o kings show discernment take warning o judges of the earth if you're in a position of power whether you're a king or a judge governor president vice president congressman senator mayor whatever take warning worship the lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling do homage to the son that he not become angry and you perish in the way for his wrath may soon be kindled how blessed are all who take refuge in him reject the son of god and you will anger god and his wrath will fall on you psalm 72 11 again let all kings bow down before him all nations serve him listen to psalm 138 4-5 all the kings of the earth earth will give thanks to you o lord when they have heard the words of your mouth and they will sing of the ways of the lord for great is the glory of the lord by the way that is not a prophecy but a hope in view of what the lord had done through david and israel psalm 47 and i'll i'll just be reading these to you but you can jot them down if you want to look back in psalm 47 oh clap your hands all peoples all nations shout to god with the voice of joy for the lord most high is to be feared a great king over all the earth that is a call to universal national worship of the true god that is a command and not to do that is to bring upon oneself terrifying judgment so what can we say should mark a ruler worship of the true god secondly righteousness righteousness second samuel 23 3 during the time of david says he that rules over men must be righteous ruling in the fear of god so worship and righteousness go together listen to proverbs 16 12 it is an abomination for kings rulers to commit wicked acts for a throne is established on righteousness proverbs 14 34 righteousness exalts a nation sin is a disgrace to any people proverbs 20 verse 28 loyalty and truth preserve the king and he upholds his throne by righteousness proverbs 25 5 take away the wicked before the king and his throne will be established in righteousness that's great wisdom get rid of the evil advisors and a ruler has a chance at ruling righteously sometimes around here we we see people saying recall the governor or let's get rid of our governor because they're upset um first of all we need to pray for the salvation of our governor and secondly god is not unaware of everything he has done and when it comes time for judgment god will execute that wrath if there is not repentance and salvation proverbs 29 2 when the righteous increase the people rejoice when a wicked man rules people groan have you been groaning when a wicked man rules people groan literally in hebrew they make a sigh ah i've had enough isaiah 32 opens the chapter opens behold a king will reign righteously and princes will rule justly each will be like a refuge from the wind and a shelter from the storm like streams of water in a dry country like the shade of a huge rock in a parched land you don't feel that way about your leaders do you it's because they don't rule righteously they're no refuge from the wind for us there are no shelter in the storm they're not streams in a dry country they're not a rock of shade in a parched land there's a third and very closely related characteristic of leaders that god requires and that is justice justice earlier i read psalm 83 and 84 but if we back up into psalm 82 you read i'll read follow along the first maybe about eight verses psalm 82 god takes his stand in his own congregation he judges in the midst of the rulers this is as if all the rulers of the world are gathered around and god is in their midst how long verse 2 will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked vindicate the weak and fatherless do justice to the afflicted and destitute those are the people who can't bribe the leader rescue the weak and needy deliver them out of the hand of the wicked they do not know nor do they understand they walk about in darkness all the foundations of the earth are shaken i said you are gods this is sarcasm two rulers you are gods aren't you all of you are sons of the most high that's sarcasm you think you're gods you think you're representing the most high you will die like men and fall like any one of the princes arise o god judge the earth for it is you who possess all the nations god calls together all the world rulers in that sum judges legislators kings presidents governors people in any responsible role of leadership and god presides over all of them they are marked by darkness intellectual darkness and moral darkness they rule unjustly they undermine the moral order that god has established for human well-being and they think they're gods and they're not they're men who will be destroyed proverbs 29 4 the king gives stability to the land by justice but a man who takes bribes overthrows it proverbs 8 15 by me king's reign and rulers decree justice by me verse 12 wisdom by wisdom kings reign and rulers decree justice that leads us to a fourth characteristic of rulers which is wisdom which is wisdom i can't resist um going to proverbs 8 for a moment there's so many scriptures i'm just giving you some samples of them but in proverbs 8 you could um pick it up in verse 12. i wisdom dwell with prudence i find knowledge and discretion the fear of the lord is to hate evil pride and arrogance in the evil way and the perverted mouth i hate counsel is mine and sound wisdom i am understanding power is mine this is wisdom personified by me kings reign and rulers decree justice by me prince's rule and nobles all who judge rightly i love those who love me that's wisdom i love those who love wisdom and those who diligently seek me will find me and riches and honor are with me enduring wealth and righteousness my fruit is better than gold even pure gold and my yield better than choice of silver i walk in the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice to endow those who love me with wealth that i may fill their treasures god doesn't want to hold anything back but his blessings are in the path of righteousness not for a governor to announce that they've lessened the consequence for predatory homosexuality on a minor that is not walking in righteousness the prophet jeremiah chapter 22 verse 1 thus says the lord go down to the house of the king of judah and there speak this word and say hear the word of the lord o king of judah who sits on david's throne you and your servants and your people who enter these gates thus says the lord do justice and righteousness and deliver the one who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor also do not mistreat or do violence to the stranger the orphan of the widow do not shed innocent blood in this place for a few men will indeed perform this thing then kings will enter the gates of this house sitting in david's place on his throne riding in chariots and on horses even the king himself and his servants and his people but if you will not obey these words i swear by myself declares the lord this house will become a desolation under your leadership innocents are slaughtered you will pay the most innocent of all are the babies in the womb being murdered and daniel again the prophet daniel just a comment from chapter 2 verse 20. daniel bless the god of heaven [Music] and daniel said let the name of the name of god be blessed forever and ever for our wisdom and power belong to him it is he who changes the times and the epochs he removes kings and establishes kings he gives wisdom to wise men and knowledge to men of understanding it is he who reveals the profound and hidden things he knows what is in the darkness and the light dwells with him to you o god of my fathers i give thanks and praise for you have given me wisdom and power even now you have made known to me what we requested of you for you have made known to us the king's matter guess what a believer who knows the word and will of god can explain reality to a king to a king that's what daniel did and his wisdom was so profound that he became the prime minister of that pagan kingdom wisdom comes only from god as nebuchadnezzar found out again back in proverbs and again these are just among the many scriptures we could look at proverbs 25. these also are proverbs of solomon which the men of hezekiah king of judah transcribed it is the glory of god to conceal a matter but the glory of kings is to search out a matter as the heavens for height and the earth for depth so the heart of kings is unsearchable take away the dross from the silver and there comes out a vessel for the smith take away the wicked before the king and his throne will be established in righteousness in other words kings are supposed to solve very difficult problems but they will not be able to do it as we noted if surrounded by liars and corrupt advisors and that leads to a fifth characteristic of a ruler honesty honesty just a couple of verses along that line proverbs 17 7 excellent speech is not fitting for a fool much less lying lips to a ruler are you not weary of lying people in power proverbs 20 28 says loyalty and truth preserve the king there's a sixth characteristic of ruler morality and that is in the final chapter of proverbs proverbs 31 suffers a little bit because everybody starts with verse 10 about the wife and that is an incredible passage but if you start at the beginning you're going to learn about what god expects of a ruler the words of king lemuel the oracle which his mother taught him what oh my son this is a king lemuel what o son of my womb and what o son of my vows what would you like to know what do you want to know from your experience in wise mother do not give your strength to women or your ways to that which destroys kings immorality it is not for kings o lemuel it is not for kings to drink wine or for rulers to desire strong drink for they will drink and forget what is decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted give strong drink to him who is perishing use it to ease somebody's pain when they're dying whine to him whose life is bitter let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his trouble no more but open your mouth for the mute for the rights of all the unfortunate open your mouth judge righteously and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy warning against vices immorality with women over indulgence indifference there's another characteristic of rulers that god honors and this is powerful it's humility go back to second chronicles second chronicles chapter 33 manasseh king manasseh who followed hezekiah in the southern kingdom of judah was 12 years old when he became king and he reigned 55 years in jerusalem he did evil in the sight of the lord according to the abominations of the nations whom the lord dispossessed before the sons of israel he did evil in the sight of the lord how did he do that he built the high places places for worshiping idols which hezekiah his father had broken down he erected altars for the baals and made asheram a kind of a deity worshiped all the hosts of heaven worshiped the stars built alders in the house of the lord of which the lord had said my name shall be in jerusalem forever he built alders for all the host of heaven and the two courts of the house of the lord this is unbelievable manasseh is putting idols in the temple he made his sons pass through the fire in the valley of ben hinnom that is to say he burned up his children as sacrifices to vale practice witchcraft used divination practice sorcery dealt with mediums and spiritus did much evil in the sight of the lord provoking him to anger then he put the carved image of the idol which he had made in the house of god of which god had said to david into solomon his son in this house and in jerusalem which i have chosen from all the tribes of israel i will put my name forever and i will not again remove the foot of israel from the land which i have appointed for your fathers if only they will observe to do all that i have commanded them according to all the law the statutes and the ordinances given through moses thus manasseh misled judah and the inhabitants of jerusalem to do more evil than the nations whom the lord destroyed before the sons of israel and the lord spoke to manasseh and his people and they paid no attention therefore the lord brought the commanders of the army of the king of assyria against him and they captured manasseh with hooks bound him with bronze chains took him to babylon when he was in distress he entreated the lord his god humbled himself greatly before the god of his fathers when he prayed to him he was moved by his entreaty and heard his supplication and brought him again to jerusalem to his kingdom then manasseh knew that the lord was god and what did he do verse 15 he removed the foreign gods remove the idols set up the altar of the lord it was too little too late the people still sacrificed verse 17 in the high places although they pretended that it was a sacrifice to god he was followed by ammon verse 21 22 years old when he became king and reigned two years he did evil in the sight of the lord as manasseh his father had done em and sacrificed to all the carved images his father manasseh had made and he served them brought him back he did not humble himself before the lord and as as his father manasseh had done emmon multiplied guilt finally his servants conspired against him put him to death in his own house but the people of the land killed all the conspirators against king ammon and the people of the land made josiah his son king in his place a father who humbled himself a son who refused to humble himself if you keep reading these accounts this keeps popping up he did evil in the sight of the lord he did evil in the sight of the lord he did evil in the sight of the lord that is the epitaph of all the kings of israel the northern kingdom and most of the kings of the southern kingdom of judah he did evil in the sight of the lord he did evil in the sight of the lord there was a breath of fresh air with josiah but the rest is the story of evil numbers 12 3 says now the man moses was very humble more than any man who was on the face of the earth humility a willingness to acknowledge sin repent and turn before it's too late god expects that out of evil rulers we need to call rulers who are doing evil to repent fall before god cry out for forgiveness and mercy through christ there's no mystery about what god requires let me just suggest two other things protection protection we just read it proverbs 31 8-9 open your mouth for the mute for the rights of all the unfortunate open your mouth judge righteously defend the rights of the afflicted and needy he's a protector habakkuk 212 the prophet said woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with violence there to be protectors psalm 94 speaks to this just a few verses verses 20 and 21 and following can a throne of destruction be allied with you someone who allows killing one who devises mischief by decree they band themselves together against the life of the righteous and condemned the innocent to death all i can think about when i read that is abortion but the lord has been my stronghold and my god the rock of my refuge he has brought back their wickedness upon them and will destroy them in their evil our lord will destroy them i don't know a more devastating warning to rulers who tolerate the death of innocence than that and finally courage courage rulers need courage courage is um hard to come by to be a virtuous ruler to lead a nation that god will bless a leader must worship the true god must conduct in his life and his affairs on behalf of the country or the nation with righteousness justice wisdom honesty morality he must be humble he must be a protector of those who need protection and finally he must have courage that is so beautifully expressed in the opening of the book of joshua and we talked about this a few weeks ago so i won't make a big point out of it but as moses hands the baton to joshua to be the leader joshua 1 6 be strong and courageous for you shall give this people possession of the land which i swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous now what does this mean what's the basis of that courage be strong and very courageous be careful to do according to all the law which moses my servant commanded you do not turn from it to the right or the left so that you may have success wherever you go this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it then you will make your way prosperous then you will have success have i not commanded you be strong and courageous do not tremble or be dismayed for the lord your god is with you wherever you go people say to me you have a lot of courage because you're doing what you're doing no i'm thankful the lord has given me resolve but i don't tremble and i'm not dismayed no matter what comes because the lord god is with me because i'm following his word i'm following the book of the law and it does not depart from my mouth day and night i want to do everything that's written in it and then the promise of god is your way will be prosperous and you'll have success do not turn to the right or turn to the left these are the characteristics of leaders and rulers that god blesses a man who has character conviction virtue righteousness wisdom honesty will be very careful with power and the first thing he'll do with his power is to make sure he honors god and the church of god and the church of the lord jesus christ he will be a strong advocate for everything that honors god he will submit himself to god's commands and to all of god's demands for him as a ruler there is no other way to distinguish a good ruler from a bad ruler it's not personality god's standards are the only way to distinguish a good ruler from a bad one a leader without virtue leader without character like a contaminated surgeon standard is very high we need leaders like this which means we need to replace a whole lot of the ones we have or they need to repent and be saved is there any hope is there an ideal king you know the answer is there an ideal king we're waiting for him aren't we the king of kings listen to what isaiah said in isaiah 33 17 your eyes will see the king in his beauty they will behold a far distant land your heart will meditate on terror where is he who counts where is he who weighs where is he who counts the towers you will no longer see a fierce people a people of unintelligible speech which no one comprehends of a stammering tongue which no one understands in other words you're not going to be seeing another another invader another conquering power with a foreign language look upon zion the city of our appointed feast your eyes will see jerusalem an undisturbed habitation a tent which will not be folded its stakes will never be pulled up nor any of its cords be torn apart but there the majestic one the lord will be for us a place of rivers and wide canals on which no boat with oars will go and on which no mighty ship will pass for the lord is our judge the lord is our lawgiver the lord is our king he will save us love that he will save us back to daniel very frustrating because i have a lot of other scriptures but i only have another half hour no daniel chapter 7 verse 13. daniel says in chapter 7 verse 13 i kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him to him was given dominion glory and a kingdom that all the people's nations and men of every language might serve him his dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed is there an ideal king yes do we know who he is the lord jesus christ he's coming back to establish his kingdom he comes in the book of revelation riding on a white horse king of kings and lord of lords the psalmist said in psalm 28 ask of me and i will give you the nations as your inheritance in the very ends of the earth as your possession the father saying that to the son i'll give you the nations psalm 22 27 all the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the lord and all the families of the earth will worship you psalm 86 9 all nations whom you have made shall come and worship you o lord and they shall glorify your name psalm 98 3 all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our god psalm 102 15 so the nations will fear the name of the lord and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory a king will come who will reign righteously and he will establish his kingdom none other than the lord jesus christ we're waiting for him aren't we we're waiting for him as we wait we have hope and that is a realized hope we already cling to it firmly because it's promised in the word of god let me close with psalm 67 god be gracious to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us that your way may be known on the earth your salvation among all nations let the people praise you o god let all the nations praise you let the nations be glad and sing for joy for you will judge the people with uprightness and guide the nations on earth let the people praise you o god let all the people praise you the earth has yielded its produce god our god blesses us god blesses us that all the ends of the earth may fear him the psalmist is saying if we are a blessed people let the world see it that's why we're here today regardless of what we're supposed to do by the world's evaluation we're here because we want the world to see god is a god who blesses his faithful [Music] people let's pray it is a high and holy privilege beyond expression to navigate the truth of scripture see its consistency its power its clarity it brings upon our souls both conviction and blessing fear and joy judgment and forgiveness the threat of wrath and the promise of heaven [Music] we pray for our country pray for our leaders pray for their salvation first of all and we pray that those who are evil leaders will be replaced and you will graciously give us righteous just truthful leaders who will restore to us the national blessedness that is so far gone we have no right to ask that it would be sheer grace for you to do that but you will not bless this country unless this country meets the conditions for blessing may it start with us that's why we need to be the church and we need to let the light shine brightly no matter what we must let our light shine before men that they may see the transforming power of the gospel in order that we might confront sin and evil at every level including leadership and give demonstration of the joy and peace and hope that fills our hearts through christ thank you for meeting us today now may we go from this committed afresh to live for your glory and your honor and proclaim christ as lord we pray in his name and everyone said amen you

Channel: Grace to You

Views: 275,451

Rating: 4.8830938 out of 5

Keywords: John MacArthur, Bible, Preaching, Christianity, Expository, Exposition, Sermon, Jesus, Christ, Grace to You, one nation under god, pledge of allegiance

Id: t5vAA_QpNh8

Length: 67min 57sec (4077 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 16 2020