Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
West Lafayette, Ohio
July 3, 1983
If My People...
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NIV)
Tomorrow the United States will be celebrating its anniversary. Two hundred and seven years ago the Continental Congress issued the Declaration of Independence, which gave the principles behind the new nation. Among these principles was a firm belief in God. The most famous line in the Declaration of Independence reads; "We believe that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights."
Americans have always believed that God has his hand upon our nation. Even Christopher Columbus felt this way. His name means, "Christ-bearer," and one of his goals in reaching the New World was to take the gospel there. Columbus wrote: "It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because he comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures."
Columbus was so religious he did not rely on maps - he used the Bible to find out where he was going. He never realized he discovered America. Till the day he died he thought he had discovered the "Indies," as all of Asia was then called.
The Pilgrims came to the New World in 1620 to establish a thoroughly Christian settlement. The charter of their colony was called the Mayflower Compact. When you read it, it sounds more like the constitution to a church than one for a government.
Christian influence did not die out in America. At the time of the Revolution the founder of Pennsylvania, William Penn, said: "If you are not governed by God, you will be ruled by tyrants." John Quincy Adams, an early President, said: "From the day of the Declaration, the American people were bound by the laws of God, which they all, and by the laws of the gospel, which they nearly all, acknowledged as the rules of their conduct."
Abraham Lincoln prayed daily and asked God to protect the nation. His speeches are filled with quotes and allusions to the Bible. To many Americans at that time, the Bible was a very special book. It's not just that it taught salvation - it also had prophecies about America. When they read in Joshua about the Israelites conquering the land of Canaan, they thought of Americans fighting off Indians and extending the borders "from sea to shining sea."
All of the prophecies about the future millennium were applied to the United States. We had no doubt that we were a Christian nation and that God loved us and blessed us more than anyone else. An extreme group, the Mormons, even taught that the Indians were the ten lost tribes of Israel and that at the Second Coming, Jesus would touch down in Independence, Missouri. However, there is a great difference between America and the situation of Israel in the Old Testament. Israel was chosen by God to be his special people. The Ten Commandments were the laws of their land. God led them in wars and he was considered their real king. The human king, like David, was only God's representative.
The United States cannot claim these things. We are not a theocracy, with God in charge of us. There are no specific prophecies that apply to us and since Christians are a minority, it's hard to call us a "Christian nation." Since we cannot claim these things, what does it mean when we say we want to bring America back to God and the Bible?
Some people would have to think Christians should have no dealings with the government. The Church should be totally separate from the state. Baptists have always believed in the separation of church and state but this doesn't mean Christians should stick their heads in the sand. Separation of church and state has to do with religious liberty, not the silencing of Christian influence.
I firmly believe that God has plans for America. We are not the New Israel or god's chosen people - America is just one nation among many. But since God has commandments for every nation, America is included. Please turn with me to Daniel 4:24-27. The passage deals with a prophecy Daniel give to Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful king of Babylon. Verses 24 and 25 read:
"This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.
Daniel is telling him he will become insane and act like an animal, until he realizes God is in charge of all nations. Once Nebuchadnezzar gets rudely educated about this fact, verse 27 tells him how he should rule:
"Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue."
This is important because it gives God's guidelines for nations outside Israel. God says we must stop sinning and live right, especially by showing kindness and concern to the poor and helpless. If we do this, God will make us prosperous. In the past, the United States has done a remarkable job of obeying this verse. Our laws have protected the rights of individuals and we have freedoms that are found in few other places around the world. One freedom you have is being able to come to this church without the fear of losing a promotion at your job or having to register with the government. Our church is free to collect food and give it to those who are hungry and to have a Sunday school to teach children about Jesus. In the Soviet Union we would be forbidden to do both of these things.
Our nation could not be called a Christian nation exactly, but since we have tried to do what is right, and help the poor and acknowledge that we are under God - since we have done these things, God has allowed our nation to prosper so that we have the highest standard of living in the world. All of this could change. Every day we hear about Biblical principles that are being thrown out the window. The family and even the belief in the sanctity of life are under attack. Just this week I heard about a man who witnessed the birth of his child. The child turned out to have a slight birth defect, the kind that can be fixed by surgery. The man, who is highly educated, killed the baby by smashing its head against the floor.
The righteousness of America cannot be taken for granted. If we let it slip away, if we sanctify selfishness and forget our commitment to those who are less fortunate, then we'll find out just how fragile our prosperity is.
God's announcement to Solomon in 2 Chronicles 7:14 is still appropriate. There is much in the United States that is sinful and dishonorable to God; our nation has many deep wounds that keep us from being truly united. One law or presidential order can't fix this. It requires the individual commitment of millions of people. We cannot count on this commitment, that why God says:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
If we want our nation to be healed and forgiven, if we want our prosperity to continue, then each of us must follow these four steps:
• We must humble ourselves -
Salvation in Christ does not depend on what we've done but on what he has done. If you have been cleansed by Christ's blood then you should have no room for pride.
• We must pray -
Pray for our government, just as the Bible tells us to. Pray that our leaders will make the right choices and will set good examples.
• We must seek God -
Like Daniel says: "God is in charge of all nations, whether they believe in him or not."
• Finally, we must turn from our wicked ways -
The sincere repentance of a few people can have a profound effect on many others.
I don't think our whole nation will ever be completely converted but as long as a strong minority remains dedicated to Christ, God will always be concerned about America.
________
Typed on May 9, 2006, by Sharon Lesko of Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
Created with the Freeware Edition of HelpNDoc: Full featured multi-format Help generator