Righteousness Exalts A Nation! By Richard Crisco

Transcription

1 Righteousness Exalts A Nation! By Richard Crisco Prov 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. The Bible and America both enjoy unprecedented success. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time. It has sold hundreds of millions of copies worldwide, and has been the best-selling book in America for centuries. No other book is comparable. Similarly, America is unrivaled in its success. Born in 1776 with the Declaration of Independence, she has had only one form of government since the U. S. Constitution was ratified in Neither our closest allies nor our fiercest enemies have experienced the stability with which we have been blessed. The accomplishments of both America and the Bible are unmatched but not unrelated, for the Bible was the key factor in America s success a fact largely unknown today but widely acknowledged in previous generations. For example: The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be...impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. 26 th President Teddy Roosevelt ( ) The fundamental basis of our Bill of Rights comes from the teachings which we get from Exodus and St. Matthew, from Isaiah and St. Paul. I don t think we emphasize that enough these days. 33th President Harry S. Truman ( ) The Bible is the rock on which our Republic rests. 7 th President Andrew Jackson ( ) Of the many influences that have shaped the United States of America into a distinctive nation and people, none may be said to be more fundamental and enduring than the Bible. 40 th President Ronald Reagan ( ) I have myself for many years made it a practice to read through the Bible once every year. I have always endeavored to read it with the same spirit... which I now recommend to you- that is, with the intention and desire that it may contribute to my advance in wisdom and virtue. 6 th President John Quincy Adams ( ) I suggest a nationwide reading of the Holy Scriptures... Go to... the Scriptures for a renewed and strengthening contact with those eternal truths and majestic principles which have inspired such measure of true greatness as this nation has achieved. 32 nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt ( ) The Bible s numerous benefits on individuals as well as on the national culture were so universally recognized that groups were formed to promote the

2 reading and distribution of the Bible. For example, in 1816 America s first national Bible Society was formed; the American Bible Society,. Its first president was Founding Father Elias Boudinot- a President of Congress during the American Revolution, a framer of the Bill of Rights, and the first attorney admitted to the Supreme Court Bar. Concerning the Bible, he declared: Were you to ask me to recommend the most valuable book in the world, I should fix on the Bible as the most instructive both to the wise and ignorant. Were you to ask me for one book affording the most rational and pleasing entertainment to the enquiring mind, I should repeat, it is the Bible. And should you renew the inquiry for the best philosophy, or the most interesting history, I should still urge you to look into your Bible. I would make it, in short, the alpha and omega of knowledge. Today, we would expect ministers to start Bible Societies, but in previous generations it was presidents, military generals, attorney generals, and supreme court justices who led the way because they especially understood the practical relevance of the Bible to everyday life. For example: The Bible is the best of all books, for it is the Word of God and teaches us the way to be happy in this world and in the next. Continue therefore to read it and to regulate your life by its precepts. John Jay, Original Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court The Bible contains more knowledge necessary to man in his present state than any other book in the world. By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects... It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration No book in the world deserves to be so unceasingly studied and so profoundly meditated upon as the Bible. The first and almost the only book deserving such universal attention is the Bible. President John Quincy Adams The Bible is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed. It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded, not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions but on the gospel of Jesus Christ! For this reason peoples of other faiths have been afforded asylum, prosperity, and freedom of worship here. Patrick Henry All of the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from them despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible. Noah Webster, Schoolmaster of America The Holy Scriptures... can alone secure to society order and peace, and to our courts of justice and constitutions of government, purity, stability, and

3 usefulness...bibles are strong entrenchments. Where they abound, men cannot pursue wicked courses and at the same time enjoy quiet conscience. James McHenry, signer of the Constitution Suppose a nation in some distant region should take the Bible for their only law book and every member should regulate his conduct by the precepts there exhibited...what a Utopia what a Paradise would this region be! The Bible is the best book in the world. John Adams, signer of the Declaration Why Get Involved? Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest, of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." John Jay, Original Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1. First, Government is God's institution! Civil government exists and functions by God's command, not because cave men created a social contract. Civil government began in Genesis 9, when God instructed Noah after the flood. Gen 9:5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. In Exodus 20-22, God through Moses gives a specific pattern for civil government. Scripture is full of God's sovereignty and interest in civil government. In Daniel 2:20-21, God removes and sets up rulers. Dan 2:20 "Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. 21 He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. 22 He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. In Proverbs 21:1, he turns a ruler's heart. Pro 21:1 The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases. In Romans 13:1, He ordains civil powers. Clearly, government is not a secular institution but a Godordained institution. Rom 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

4 2. Second, God has every right to direct His institutions. Scripture reveals God's governmental rules for the home, the church... and the government! Christians are quite familiar with Biblical expectations for the family and the church. Yet many are amazed to realize that our country's Constitution and many of its laws and punishments are based on civil government rules of conduct that are spelled out in the Bible. Exodus addresses manslaughter, premeditated murder, assault, kidnapping (and slavery), abortion, infanticide, property crimes, criminal negligence, assaulting parents, robbery and bestiality. Leviticus 13 addresses public health laws Leviticus 20 and other passages speak to such issues as adultery, fornication, sex with family members, homosexuality, and beastiality. In Deuteronomy are laws regarding violation of a court order, perjury, malicious accusations, building codes (no regulatory scheme, it just sets the standards for responsible conduct and punishes wrongs), juvenile delinquency and rape. God also gives qualifications for leadership, both in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-7) and in civil government (Exodus 18:21). Exo 18:20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people-- men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-- and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Imagine our state and nation under leaders with these Biblical qualities: "able" and "fears God" and speaks "truth" and "hates covetousness"! Third, God s Word should govern EVERY Area of our life! We just saw how God s Word includes governmental law for the home, church and civil government. We are repeated told to keep church separated from politics. We have heard it so frequently that most Christians now believe that it is correct! But would we allow Biblical Governmental Law to be excluded from our homes or churches? So why quietly surrender to arguments saying we should keep God's Word and God's people out of God's institution of civil government? A CALL TO ACTION! During some of the darkest days of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln reminded his fellow Americans that We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. To be born in a land of freedom, to live in a nation founded as One Nation Under God by those who served the one, true God of

5 the Bible, is both a tremendous privilege and great responsibility. While we have much to admire and love and be thankful for in being able to call America our home, our nation is rapidly drifting from its biblical foundations. Our freedom to serve God and to promote the gospel in our land is disintegrating. We are engaged in a great spiritual battle that threatens our country, our families, and our lives. Only God s intervention will return America to solid footing and restore a moral nation that righteousness will exalt. Jesus called us to be salt and light to the world. (Mt. 5:13-16) We must take seriously our responsibility to establish God s Kingdom, not only in our homes and churches, but also in our national affairs. 4 Practical Steps We Must Take: 1. Pray! Our Founding Fathers knew the power and purpose of prayer! 2Ch 7:14 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. Process! Within the God-given wisdom of our founding documents, we have been granted clear and certain processes for bringing about change concerning things that we perceive as wrong for our nation. In every level of government there are imbedded governmental processes for nonviolent moral, social and political change. But we must care enough to learn and understand those processes so that we can properly activate the changes needed to establish righteousness in our land! 3. Participate! Participate within the process for change is the ultimate key to success. To gripe and complain about what is wrong or unjust, yet not actively do something about it is fruitless, wrong and sinful! James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. 4. Persevere! We are in a Life-long Spiritual Warfare! (Steve Hill - Never look for peace in a time of war.) Satan will never quit or admit defeat And we must not either!! God created this world in such a way that the Most Committed Win! The Battle is not always won by the strongest, biggest or even the most right The Battle is won by those who persist and persevere!

6 1Co 15:58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Charles Finney Revivalist during the 2 nd Great Awakening Brethren, our preaching will bear its legitimate fruits. If immorality prevails in the land, the fault is ours in a great degree. If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discrimination, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in religion, the pulpit is responsible for it. If satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it. Let us not ignore this fact, my dear brethren; but let us lay it to heart, and be thoroughly awake to our responsibility in respect to the morals of this nation. Vote Biblically Signs!!! "No human society has ever been able to maintain both order and freedom, both cohesiveness and liberty apart from the moral precepts of the Christian Religion. Should our Republic ever forget this fundamental precept of governance, we will then, be surely doomed." John Jay, Original Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court

7 Part 1 - about 13 minutes long that gives you a summary of how to get the right people elected: Part 2 - another ~9 mins, with more info on how to KEEP elected leaders aligned to our values once we have them in office: &feature=iv&src_vid=kTL1IIYBZCw&v=ixesqHbMMN Q