Sermon: Good Government Requires Good Men

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[Frank Dunkle] In the summer of 1787, a group  of men gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.   They came there with purposeful determination.   Most of them believed that their country, the  United States of America, was tearing itself   apart. They believed that disagreements,  various selfish policies among the states,   if they were left unaddressed, they would  lead the republic, which was a young country,   to tear itself apart, that it would break up into  two, three, or four or more separate countries.   If that happened, these leaders who met in  Philadelphia feared that these now smaller   countries would fight amongst each other, that  they would reach out to allies in Europe, and   that soon they would become vassal states to those  great powers in Europe. If that happened, all the   efforts, the treasure, the lives that it took to  win American independence, would go for nothing. Now, we know that those bad things did not happen,   largely because the men who gathered in  Pennsylvania that summer went above and   beyond the plan that they had when they gathered  there. They came meaning to just revise the   existing government, which was organized under  what was called the Articles of Confederation.   But instead, they drafted a completely new  Constitution for the United States. Of course,   that's why we know it as the Constitutional  Convention today. I'm guessing all of our younger   members here who've been through high school or  studied it recently in junior high are thinking,   "Yes, I knew about that." It's been written  about time and again by historians. One of   my favorite books on the subject is by a  historian named Catherine Drinker Bowen.   She titled her book, The Miracle of Philadelphia.  She actually called it a miracle, something most   modern historians don't call events of history. No  surprise, the book was written about 70 years ago. Now, I don't want to go as far as some people who   put the Constitution up there on par almost with  Holy Scripture, or some people sometimes have   a little confusion about the United States  of America and the Kingdom of God. I don't   want to do that. But I do believe that the United  States becoming a powerful and a wealthy nation,   that that was partially fulfilling some of  the promises that God had made to Abraham,   to Isaac, and Jacob. I believe God had a hand  in the United States becoming what it was   and has been. I believe God had a hand in  what happened in Philadelphia that summer.   And, thus, I think there are lessons for us to  learn by looking at what happened that summer   and by considering the motivations of the  men who did it. One of the obvious ones can   be found in Daniel 4:32. I'm not going to turn  there. You probably know it well. That's when   Daniel was talking to King  Nebuchadnezzar and he told him,   "The Most High rules in the kingdom of  men and gives it to whom He chooses." We want to never forget that no matter what's  going on in the world… And if you're like me,   you've watched the news in the last few days, you  said, some things are going on, and we don't know   where they'll lead, God rules in the kingdoms  of men. He knows what's going on. Another lesson   that I don't have a Scripture to turn to exactly,  but we'll see it reflected in a number, is that   I believe very firmly that it's good people that  make a kingdom or a country to be good. It's good   people that make the government good. It's not  a good government that makes its people good.   That's an important thing to consider. And if  that's something that fits with the founding of   our country, it's worth looking at. So I'd like to  share one of my favorite stories from that summer.   And I believe it does show God's influence.  I think, in that case, God often did work,   as He often does, I believe now, behind the  scenes, as we would say, that He is causing   things to move, but not necessarily by parting the  seas or sending lightning to strike someone, but   by moving events so that people could  say, "Maybe God caused that, maybe not." I think it was easier because  the men that gathered there   were mostly men trying to do what  they thought was good and right.   They believed in a God. I believe they worshipped  God as best they knew and tried to do His will.   As I said, the framers of the Constitution quickly  realized when they met in Philadelphia that   it wasn't going to be enough to just revise  what they already had. They realized that   they needed to set aside the Articles of  Confederation and start drafting from scratch.   When they set out to design this new  government, they saw they needed something   that they hadn't had before, a separate  executive and a separate legislature.   They quickly… well, not so quickly, but eventually  saw the need also for a separate judicial branch.   I would say that that's one of my thoughts  is I wish they thought of that sooner and   delineated a little bit more in the Constitution  about that. But that's not my point today. But as the men worked, they had disagreements  about various things. And, usually, they would   talk it out and relatively quickly come to some  agreement, a compromise, or seeing the best   solution. But there was one big sticking point.  It came down to deciding how the states would   be represented in the national legislature they  were devising, which they would call the Congress.   Large states wanted what they would  term "proportional representation."   That is the states that had more people living  in them would have more say in the government.   And one way to do that would be  send more delegates to the Congress   so they would have a greater  influence in the government.   You might guess the small states  weren't so thrilled with that idea.   Understandably, they objected, because they said,  "If there's anything we have a disagreement on,   our small states will be bulldozed,  and we'll end up having no say." The small states wanted equal representation.  They wanted every state to have the same   influence in the government, no matter  how many or how few people lived in it.   That's a pretty significant disagreement. Several  times the men came to that, and they discussed,   and they debated, I won't say argued, but  they talked it out. And a lot of times,   they'd come to the sticking point and say, "Well,  let's set it aside and work on something else."   And the something else, usually they could  work out pretty quickly. In time, though,   success or failure came down to solving that big  problem they had. And it's worth remembering,   these men came there thinking that if they  didn't find a solution, if they didn't fix   the national government, there would cease to be  a United States of America. So they were somewhat   desperate. But they thought, "We've got to do  something that's right. We've got to solve this.   But they couldn't. They just couldn't seem  to get there. And they were at the brink of   just breaking up the conference and the men  going home without accomplishing anything. By the time they reached that  point, it was well into July.   The men were getting uncomfortable. I don't know  if any of you are up on 18th-century fashion, but   the stylish men of the day wore suits made out  of wool. You know, they didn't have Dacron or   nylon or dry-fit shirts. And the weather was  getting hot. It was getting miserable, really,   you know, partly because they'd agreed that they  would hold their sessions all in closed session.   They wanted to be able to talk freely, express  their mind, and if someone had a better idea,   to change their mind, without getting a  lot of criticism for seeming wishy-washy.   So they closed their sessions to the public.  They kept the doors and the windows closed.   They made a promise that they wouldn't talk  after hours, which reminds me that they had   to set special guards to go with Benjamin  Franklin because he had trouble not talking. But as you might imagine, the heat and  humidity started making people uncomfortable.   The men became short-tempered. As I said, they  were about to just break up and not do anything.   At this point, there are different versions of  what happened. How was that stalemate broken?   The story I like best came from that delegate  I just mentioned. The oldest delegate there   offered a proposition. He made a proposal. And  it began with what's now a pretty famous quote,   his words were… Oh, I just realized I left out  something. I brought a prop. I didn't bring a wool   suit. But most of the men were wearing something  like this. I was going to bring the wig, but   wigs are really uncomfortable. Benjamin Franklin's words were, "I have lived  a long time. And the longer I live, the more   convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God  governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow   cannot fall to the ground without His notice,  is it probable that an empire can rise without   His aid?" With that, Franklin proposed… You  thought I was going to wear this the whole time.   He proposed that they start beginning each morning  with having a clergyman come up and lead them in   prayer, to ask God to bless their work. Soon  after that, they did arrive at what is known as   the "Great Compromise." Again, you've probably  heard it in history classes. The agreement   was something that we all know of. They  would make their legislature what's called   a bicameral legislature. There would be two  separate houses. One would give the states   proportional representation. That's what  we call the House of Representatives today,   bigger states and more delegates. And then in  the Senate, each state would be represented   equally. There would be two senators from  each state, no matter how big or small. With that, the rest of the details were  worked out relatively quickly and easily.   They went and presented the Constitution to the  States. There's a whole very fascinating story   about that, which doesn't fit with the sermon,  but eventually, it was ratified, and history   took the course that we know. The United States  went on to become a powerful, successful nation.   There are other explanations for what happened  that summer, though. Most historians disregard   Franklin's appeal for prayer. And they  appropriately mention that the delegates did   not even vote on the proposition. What more modern  historians will look at is the fact that we can   see from public records of the day that what  we would now call a cold front came through.   The temperatures eased off, the humidity  dissipated, and, quite literally,   cooler heads prevailed. And they came to  that great compromise that I described. Which one of those explanations should we look  at? You know, I can't be absolutely certain,   as I said, I think God would work behind  the scenes. But I also believe God is   perfectly capable of controlling the weather.   I also believe that this Constitutional Convention  didn't choose to bring in someone to lead them in   prayer. I suspect that the men felt motivated by  Franklin's words to make sure that each of them   began praying on their own, that they, perhaps  more sincerely than ever before, called upon God,   asked Him for intervention. I believe this  because I believe God does rule in the kingdoms   of men. And a large majority of the U.S. founding  fathers believed that. They acted accordingly.   It's evident that their firm beliefs led them  to form a government and a nation that conformed   in some important ways to godly principles.  Particularly, they believe that a free people   must be virtuous. To be free, people must  be virtuous. They had to have character.   They also believed that they  needed an educated people.   They believe that an ignorant people would  not very long remain free or virtuous.   How does that apply to us, to the  Church of God, to the Kingdom of God? Now, I do want to get into Scripture.  If you'll join me in turning to John 8,   there's an interesting exchange that Jesus  Christ had with some of His followers during   His ministry. John 8, we'll begin in verse 31.   Let me read a couple of verses when I get to the  right chapter. I should have put my glasses on   first. John 8:31, "Then Jesus said to those Jews  who believed in Him, 'If you abide in My word,   you're My disciples indeed. And you shall know  the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'"   Now, this confuses Christ's listeners.  They are well acquainted with slavery.   Slavery of a type existed in ancient Israel,  indeed existed in most nations throughout the   world for all of human history. It was very  common in the Roman Empire. So they think that   Christ is telling them that knowing the truth  is going to change their legal status, that it   could emancipate them from slavery. But these  men were not actually in slavery in that sense. So in verse 33, they answer, they say, "We're  Abraham's descendants. We've never been in   bondage to anyone. How can you say you'll be  made free?" Jesus explains that He's speaking   of something greater, something greater but more  abstract than physical bondage or legal slavery.   Starting in verse 34, Jesus answered and said,  "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin   is a slave of sin. A slave doesn't abide in  the house forever, but a son abides forever.   Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be  free indeed." Jesus there seems to be saying that   freedom isn't just a matter of being able to do  whatever you want, whenever you want. I remember   when I was younger, having that idea. I could  just do whatever strikes my fancy at a moment.   But being influenced by Satan, as all  mankind is, means that that sort of freedom,   doing just whatever strikes your  fancy, that inevitably leads to sin. And most of us have memorized Romans 6:23,   that tells us, "The wages of sin  is death." That's hardly a freedom.   But God's truth, His way of life, His plan of  redemption, the sacrifice of Christ, can free   us from the death penalty. And living God's way  can give us our freedom that is freedom indeed.   It's a freedom from conflict, a freedom from  that inner turmoil of trying to decide what's   right and what's wrong, that pull between good and  evil. Being freed from that is a wonderful thing.   That's something that no political system can do  for us. No government can do it. I would say that   type of freedom begins within all the individual  people, and it can spread out to affect a country.   And I believe the founders of the United States  saw this principle, at least in a limited way. Let me give you some more quotes.  My friend Benjamin Franklin   said, "Only a virtuous people are capable of  freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious,   they have more need for masters." John Adams,  one of my favorites of the founding fathers,   he was not at the Constitutional Convention,  which confuses many people, but he'd studied   the fields of law and government extensively.  And shortly before that convention met,   he had published a series of  essays on American Constitutions.   Adams had this to say, "The only foundation of  a free constitution is pure virtue. And if this   cannot be inspired into our people in a greater  measure than they have it now, they may change   the rulers and their forms of government,  but they will not obtain lasting liberty."   Change your government, change your  rulers without virtue, no lasting liberty. Let me add one more from another of my heroes,  George Washington. I think George Washington would   have a deep voice. "It is substantially true…" Oh,  he'd sound like a Southerner, though, wouldn't he?   Okay. Just imagine I sound like what  George Washington would sound like.   "It is substantially true that virtue or morality  is a necessary spring of popular government.   The rule indeed extends, with more or less  force, to every species of free government."   Let me summarize what these men were saying. They  all realized that the specific system of this   government they were trying to form just didn't  matter if the people had no sound character.   It's not the government that would make the people  virtuous. Virtuous people would make a government   work. You know, unless you've got a totalitarian  form of government, imposed with brute force,   the leaders appointed can't make the difference.  It doesn't matter who's elected or appointed   if the people they lead are  corrupt, immoral, and selfish. Let me quote John Adams, again, "Our constitution  was made only for a moral and religious people.   It is wholly inadequate to the government of any  other." The reason I'm emphasizing all this is,   I think there's a similar truth for the  kingdom, for the family that God's creating.   And I'd say, you know, God could use brute force  and control each and every one of us. That's not   beyond Him as it is most governments. But God's  not creating a government of totalitarian force.   He's creating a family, as it says in Hebrews  2:10. I'll read that because I think Hebrews 2:10   is a good summary of God's purpose  in creating mankind in His image,   in His likeness. And it's a simple phrase.  It says, "For it was fitting for Him,   for whom are all things and by whom are  all things, in bringing many sons to glory…   in bringing many sons to glory to make the captain  of their salvation perfect through sufferings."   As I said, I think that summarizes  why God made us, to bring us to glory   as sons. He didn't create us to be robots,  or toys, or pets, but to be His children.   And I believe that's the reason He gave us free  will. He gave us the ability to make decisions,   including bad decisions,  including sinful decisions.   God made us free moral agents because He  wants us to be born into His family willingly. Let's go to 1 John 3. Note that,  again, what God's purpose is.   First John 3, we'll read  the first couple of verses.   "Behold what manner of love the Father has  bestowed on us, that we should be called   children of God! Therefore the world does  not know us, because it did not know Him.   Beloved, now we are children of God; It  has not yet been revealed what we shall be.   We know that when He's revealed, we shall  be like Him, we'll see Him as He is."   This has been a basic understanding of the  Church of God for a long time. So I'm not   saying this to think I'm revealing some new  truth, but I want to emphasize the point that,   you know, as benefits and powers that are  afforded to citizens in a free country,   require those citizens to be virtuous… Yeah,  at least, it requires them to be virtuous,   if they're going to retain their liberties,  retain their freedoms and benefits. Like that,   to become children of God  and to enjoy eternal life   requires us to develop virtue, moral virtue.  God's plan wouldn't work any other way. You know, we don't rely on Jesus Christ to be good  for us. And I've heard some churches will say,   "Yeah, we don't have to obey that Old Testament  law. Jesus Christ did that for us." No,   we need to become holy as God is holy. Actually,  if we're here in the general Epistles, turning   over to 1 Peter 1, I forgot I had it in my notes  right here, 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 15.   "As He who called you is holy, you  also be holy in all your conduct."   So anyway, we often stop with, as  He who called you is holy, be holy,   but in all your conduct, I've always said is very  important. It means don't just be holy. "Look at   me. I'm holy. Holiness is exuding out of me."  It's about what you do, you know, your actions. Matter of fact, I didn't get to use this line  on the students this year because I wasn't   teaching General Epistles, but I've used this… if  you've seen the movie Forrest Gump, still around.   There's a line Forrest Gump had when people  say, "What, are you stupid?" He'd say,   "Stupid is as stupid does." Well, this isn't about  being stupid. But I think this line could mean,   holy is as holy does. If we're to be holy  in all of our conduct, it needs to be in   our conduct. Holy is as holy does. In verse  16, “it's written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’"   We could add to that what it said… what Christ  said in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:48.   "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."   And again, this isn't new. Since I was, you  know, a young boy in God's Church, I've heard   our teaching stressing that we're to develop moral  character. You know, we stressed that repentance   of sin doesn't just mean feeling bad about the  sin but it means… the Hebrew and the Greek words   literally mean to turn, to go a different  way. We teach that we're to be converted. I'm not… I don't have in my notes to turn  to Ephesians 4, but there Paul talks about   putting to death the old man and becoming a new  man, a new creation. That's what we're doing.   Otherwise, it would be unthinkable for God to  grant us immortality, to give us God powers.   By the time that happens, we must already  be trustworthy and self-governing.   And what I'm presenting here today, I think is a  parallel with what the American founding fathers   saw and their need… They wanted to build a  government that could support a free society. But   they saw the need for virtue to do that. Now, it's  funny, if you read their writings, they use the   term public virtue because they saw it as… okay,  they wanted people to be good at home, but they   wanted people to reach out their role in society.  Doing things for the good of others was what they   called public virtue. And there's a parallel.  Our need as Christians is to develop virtue,   righteousness, in order to be  a part of the Kingdom of God. Another founding father I haven't quoted yet,  James Madison. James Madison is sometimes   called the Father of the Constitution because  he led a lot of the debates and kept the most   extensive notes. He said something about the U.S.  Constitution that I think could be said about   us in the family of God. He said, or he wrote,  "We have staked the whole future of our nation,   not upon the power of government; far from  it. We have staked the future of all our   political constitutions upon the capacity  of each of ourselves to govern ourselves,   according to the moral principles  of the Ten Commandments of God." The future of the United States, he said,   was staked on the ability of  the people in that government   to live and govern themselves, according to the  morality, the principles of the Ten Commandments.   We could say, in a sense, that God the Father is  staking the hope of building a spiritual family   on the willingness and determination of  us as individuals, to accept the moral   principles of the Ten Commandments,  to govern ourselves according to them.   Along with that, I feel like I should say, and to  allow God to dwell in us through the Holy Spirit,   to make us into the new creation that we need  to be to do that. Because, as all of us probably   know, our best efforts to live according to  the Ten Commandments and the principles there   are going to fall short. It's God's power that  will help us to overcome and become a new person.   And that's good, in a sense. I mean,  the founding fathers didn't consider   developing public virtue to be a passive process.   They never saw it as something that would just  happen, you know, without a diligent effort. Sorry, I saw something that I had  written in my notes that I couldn't read.   You know, they thought that education was vital  to that. And I think we should see that. We can't   expect Christ to transform us without us ourselves  exerting some effort and striving to educate   ourselves. He's not going to do it against our  will. Now, He'll do some things against our will   because God doesn't like to let us get away. I'll  refer you to the story of Jonah. Hopefully, none   of us have been, I would say, in that situation.  None of you have been inside a fish lately, right?   But God wants us to do more than come along  kicking and screaming. So, I think it's vital for   us to learn to understand what's right and good,  to study God's Word, and develop a will to do it.   So I thought it's worth considering  some of what the founding fathers   saw as how they developed that. They're  learning and developing their will to do. Now, thinking of George Washington, he was  typical of the Southern gentry of his time.   And that area of the country,  public schools were scarce.   All the families that could afford it, though,  would bring in private tutors, and they would   teach their sons… unfortunately, not necessarily  their daughters, but it was a male-dominated   society. But the sons would learn reading, and  writing, and basic arithmetic. They would learn   horseback riding. I find it intriguing, they  learned to dance. And they would gather the   young people around to make sure they brought in a  dance master to teach them that. That taught them   self-discipline. It taught them poise. It taught  them how to deal with other people gracefully.   The young men in that society were encouraged to  develop strong opinions, but also a strong will   so that they could force themselves to  conform to what they knew to be right. George Washington's famous for a list he wrote  and was called, "Rules of Civility and Decent   Behavior in Company and Conversation." And he  was a young man, I'm trying to think if he was   about 11 or 12, when he wrote this down,  and he copied rules from various places.   Some of them are humorous. One said, "If you  cough, sneeze, sigh, or yawn, do it not loud,   but privately." But he included some rules we  would do well to heed. One said, "Mock not nor   jest of anything of importance." That's something  I need to work on. Another one he said was,   "Labor to keep alive in your breast that little  spark of celestial life called conscience." That's   about as much as I'll say about Washington. He's  one of my personal heroes. I've read several   books on him. I think he's deserving  of the reputation he has as astounding   father of our country, and many  historians call him our best president.   And all who study and give him those titles  will say it was owing to his character,   owing to his devotion to serving the public  good that he reached that reputation. Benjamin Franklin, though, is considered to be  one of the wisest of the founding fathers. As   I mentioned, he's one of the oldest, and he  had less formal education than most, by far.   You know, he grew up in a poor family, one of…  now I want to say, I think it was 11 children. And   he was one of the youngest. So, you know, he was  apprenticed away and taught how to make a living   as best he could. And when he was an apprentice  to a printer, though, he determined he would take   advantage of that setting, because print shops had  a lot of stuff to read. He would devote himself to   reading whatever was there as often as possible  and to making good use of his breaks. Matter of   fact, he determined that he would eat sparingly  and drink water come break time, which you might   say, "Well, yeah." But most workmen at that time  would send down to the tavern and have buckets   of beer brought in during break, or hard cider.  Not Franklin. He wanted to have a clear head. He became notorious for borrowing books and  buying books, later on for writing some.   One of the best-known books he wrote was his own  autobiography. And there's a section in that that   used to be assigned reading for most public  schools. I'm guessing many of you, at least   who are older, have, where Franklin set out a  determination to develop moral perfection. Pretty   ambitious, but a pretty good ambition. And I won't  describe all of it, but it's interesting. He made   up a chart of various virtues and a schedule. So  he would work on one and track his progress. When   he mastered it, he'd start on the next. And by  a set time, he was going to be morally perfect. But what's interesting, he writes that as he would  make progress on one, he noticed he was slipping   on the others, and he turned the focus on them,  and he slipped on different ones. To Franklin's   surprise, becoming morally perfect is harder  than you might think. Most of you probably aren't   surprised, right? We've been working on that.  My point to notice, though, is not so much on   the difficulty, but that he and so many others saw  it as a worthy goal. He said, "I'm going to strive   for this." Not many did it as systematically. But  they would all say, "That's what we have to strive   for." You know, it's not just, "Accept me as I  am. That's the way it is, and I can't help it."   Matter of fact, as I said, I've read some  quotes showing that they believed everyone   in the nation needed to do that.  So we see virtue and righteousness,   and education as an indispensable part they saw  as our government. We think it's very important   for developing the traits to be in God's  Kingdom. To give people the power of governing,   the freedom to make decisions,  you need to trust their character. I'll consider one more example. Again, John Adams  is one of my favorites. He's been one of the,   I guess, under-appreciated founding fathers, at  least he was until… That's probably been at least   a couple of decades since… Did I write his name  down? David McCullough wrote a new biography that   really brought a lot of people around to Adams.  Like many New Englanders, Adams learned reading,   writing, and basic arithmetic in local  school, but he also learned Latin and Greek.   And then he attended Harvard College. I'm amazed  that you would typically enter Harvard as about a   14-year-old in those days. And there he studied  rhetoric, logic, philosophy, natural science.   And these, combined with his personal interest,  led to reading a lot. You know, Adams read book   after book. When he was finished… you know, most  graduates of Harvard were expected to go into   one of just a few fields, and medicine was one,  the ministry was the most common, or the law. Adams thought about the ministry, but then  he realized, "That's not going to suit me."   And so he devoted himself to  studying law. He spent two years   during which he became a public school teacher  and studied law at night, which when I read that,   I thought, "Going through law school and night  classes has a long history in this country."   And what's interesting, even after he  passed the bar and started practice,   he continued to study. He was a determined  student of government and principles   of law, so much so that he became one  of the architects of the Constitution   without even being at the convention  because his writings were so well-known.   That's something I think is a good example for us.  We have a study of God's law in this book. And we   want to make sure we understand its principles  clearly and that we don't cease the study. We   don't reach a point where we say, "I got it.  I'm done. I don't need to read it anymore." Oh, let me add one other thing about the  leaders of the U.S. government, you know,   the founders at that time. They pretty  much all talked to each other quite a bit.   They talked. They wrote letters. And not only  did they do that, but they listened. And that's   probably the most important. They were open to  each other's ideas. And they very much fulfilled   what's written in Proverbs 27:17. I won't have you  turn there, but you'll recognize it where it says,   "As iron sharpens iron, so a man  sharpens the countenance of his friend."   Iron sharpening iron, another good example for  those of us in God's Church as we share ideas,   and we discuss, and we work  on sharpening each other. Now, you might guess, being an American  historian… history teacher, I like to say,   I think the founding fathers were great men. They  accomplished great things. And I personally think   God was involved in leading them to those. But I'm  presenting their examples today as an inspiration   because I believe God has  called us to greater things,   greater things even than that. As much as I love  and appreciate the history of the United States,   it's not the Kingdom of God, never could  be, never will be. The founding fathers,   they're not sons of God. Not yet, anyways. Now,  one of my disappointments about the understanding   of the timing of the second resurrection is  how long I'll have to wait to meet these men.   But we are called to become sons of God in His  Kingdom. We can learn from examples of history.   We can strive to exceed them. And God's power   in us will make that possible. These men saw study  and learning as a necessary part of developing   public virtue, and they saw public virtue as  necessary for a people to be free and happy.   We should see a study of God's Word, we should see  following the lead of God's Spirit, as necessary   to developing moral virtue, to developing godly  character. And we should never leave that. I'll reference 2 Timothy 2:15, actually,  I'll turn there. But as I'm about to read it,   2 Timothy 2:15, the New King James says, "Be  diligent…" I prefer the Old King James where it   used the good old-fashioned word study "to present  yourself approved to God, a worker who does not   need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of  truth." That should be us. We should be diligent.   We should study and be comfortable working with  God's Word to give a correct understanding of   it. But it's not enough to just have God's Word.  And we have something more. If we turn to John 14,   Jesus Christ, the last night that He spent with  His disciples was explaining to them that though   He was going to be gone, they were going to  have access to His power in a greater way,   John 14:26. I read this because it's not just  them all those years ago, it's us here today.   When He said, "The Helper,” the Greek Paraclete,  “the Holy Spirit, which the Father will send in my   name, it will teach you all things, and bring to  your remembrance all things that I said to you."   Now, I corrected the grammar as it should be  there, over a page or so to John 16:13. Speaking   still of the Spirit, it says, "When the Spirit of  truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth.   Won't speak on its own authority, but whatever  it hears, it'll speak; tell you things to come." God's Spirit will guide us into all truth. But it  won't just put it in our minds without our effort.   We do have to pick up this book and read  it. But if it guides us in all truth,   remember what Christ said, "The truth will make  us free." We can be free. I agree with the idea   that the founding fathers who said, "In order  to enjoy freedom, a people must be virtuous."   Sadly, when we look at the United States, I'd say  the founding fathers' predictions came true, but   in a way, they didn't necessarily expect. We can  look at the state of the U.S. today and see that   much of the population has, I think, lost an  understanding of virtue. Now I know people will   disagree with me on that. But people want the type  of freedom that's the type I said that we think   of at first. Just, "I can do whatever I want,  whenever I want. No one can tell me what to do."   You know, they think of freedom as a lack of  guidelines for conduct and standards of morality. While some people think of that as freedom,  I think that fits what Benjamin Franklin   said when he noted that the less virtue a  people have, the more need they have of masters.   And that’s... Interestingly in the United  States today, we have more rules and regulations   than ever before, it seems. We have regulations  controlling business, personal conduct,   regulations about what you can and can't  say in public. An argument could be made   that to protect the freedom of the country, the  government has become controlling and coercive.   And the people of the United States are  perhaps less free than they were 200 years ago. Now, again, I'll comment, I have a lot of  colleagues in academia who will disagree   strongly with me on that. And I understand that.  And I don't want to make it such an extreme to   say that there's no good out there, because we  live in the best country there is. So please,   I don't want to criticize that. Matter of fact,  what matters for us as Christians is not to render   a verdict on this government, this country, or any  other. What matters is for us to realize that each   of us need to develop character. Regardless of  what a government does, I need to develop virtue.   If we do, we can experience that true  freedom that Jesus Christ said could be ours.   Along with studying and learning, like  the founding fathers, we need to exert   self-discipline to accomplish that goal,  because we've got something greater in mind,   greater than building a career,  greater than founding a nation. The apostle Paul summarized it in 1 Corinthians 9.  1 Corinthians 9, I'll begin reading in verse 24,   a very familiar passage, I believe, says, "Do you  not know that those who run in a race all run,   but one receives the prize? Run in  such a way that you may obtain."   Now, this is a different metaphor than I've been  using, but he says, "Everyone who competes for   the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do  it…” they exert a lot of self-discipline, a lot of   effort “to obtain a perishable crown,  but we for an imperishable crown.”   We’re striving to get something that's far  greater than anything that can be found on earth.   And Paul didn't want the members of the  Corinthian congregation to suddenly embark   on a fitness regimen to start  training for the Olympics.   Like me, today, I believe he was encouraging  Christians to exercise self-discipline and   training their minds, and developing their  character, a strong spiritual routine. We need to diligently study God's Word every  day. We need to come before God in prayer on a   daily basis, and I believe more than once a day.  Discipline our minds, to meditate on God's Word.   Think on His plan, His great creation, and His  actions. We even need to make ourselves fast,   more than once a year. I hate fasting.  Well, I should say I hate the way it feels,   but I love what it does. So, I got to be careful  how I say that. But it's that self-discipline   that helps us grow in that character. Because  our goal, as I said, is far higher than winning   a sports contest. It's greater even than  founding a nation or designing a government.   Our goal is to be holy, as our Father in Heaven  is holy, to be perfect as our Father is perfect. In 1787, when that group of men gathered in  Philadelphia, they'd already devoted much of their   lives to preparing and developing what they called  public virtue. They'd prepared themselves to serve   their country, as its leaders. But I think they  understood that that meant also as its servants,   and that helped them to be ready to launch an  entirely new form of government. So much more, I   think we want to develop and devote our energies,  our time, and attention to preparing ourselves   to developing moral virtue and self-control,  righteous character so that we can be ready   to play that part in the Kingdom of God.  Let's work so that we can be there when   Christ comes when that trumpet sounds,  that we'll be ready to take our place. The founding fathers of the United States,  when they gathered in Philadelphia,   they thought that they had to find a way  to succeed or it would all fall apart,   the United States would even cease to exist.  And I don't think they were wrong in that.   One thing I can say is, the Kingdom of God has  no danger of ceasing to exist if any one of us   fails. That's where I can't think of myself as  so important that without me, God can't do it.   You know, if Christ said, "Hey," or John the  Baptist said, "God can raise from these stones   children to Abraham." But God doesn't  want to do it without us. He called you.   Each one of you. He wants you in His Kingdom. So  He's saying, "Get ready, build and prepare." And   that's something with God's help we can do.  We can be among the founders of a nation or   a Kingdom greater even than this country. We  can help found the Kingdom of God on earth.
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Channel: United Church of God Sermons
Views: 284
Rating: 5 out of 5
Keywords: United Church of God, sermon
Id: c3I3XWE5t84
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Length: 45min 25sec (2725 seconds)
Published: Fri Feb 19 2021
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