As we witness what at one time would have been unthinkable societal changes, it most likely causes many of us to wonder "why are these things happening?" and more importantly "what can be done about them?"
Well, my answers to those questions might surprise you, but I think when you look to God's Word, I wonder if those are the questions the Lord would have His children to be asking. Now, first let me say that unlike some who you might hear, I don't subscribe to the notion that this is a Christian nation. Yes I understand that a number of the founding fathers had a strong Christian faith, but let's face it, the nation is a "republic" and at no time has it been, nor was it ever intended to be a "theocracy" with the people ruled and led entirely by God. Therefore, should we even surprised when there are those who completely thumb their noses at God and His righteous ways? Not only shouldn't we be surprised, but we shouldn't expect anything else, especially from those who have unconverted and rebellious hearts. Notice what God's Word says about the heart of every man and woman, including believers: Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? " (NKJV)
That verse shows that man is naturally rebellious (rebelling against God's rule) and therefore sinful. So we shouldn't be surprised that our nations and the world in general seems to be heading further down the slippery slope of abject disobedience and sin. Now, while this might seem to be a recent or new condition, in actuality that's far from the case. The Bible tells us that from the very first sin committed by Adam and Eve, mankind was speeding headlong into more and more sin. Things got so bad at one time that God determined that He had to render a severe judgment upon sinful mankind - and oh, by the way this was only in the first book of the Bible. Notice the Lord's estimation of mankind at that time: Genesis 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (NKJV) How about that? The Lord not only saw "great" wickedness upon the earth, but that "every intent" and thought was "evil continually." You see, that's the "desperately wicked" heart mentioned in the Jeremiah passage. So we see that the horribly sinful condition we see today is far from new.
It only seems new because man is pretty good at covering things up. One of the things man has been attempting to cover up from the very beginning are his sinful tendencies. Just think back to how Adam and Eve attempted to cover their shame after falling into sin. While they desired to "cover" the sin, acting as if it never happened, God wanted them to admit the sin so that He might deal with it. It's really no different today. And that brings me to the second question of what can be done about the abominable things we see happening in our nation and world today. The first thing is that we need to look at them as sin. Whether we are speaking about the brutally senseless terrorism and killing of innocent people, the increasing agenda to promote and "normalize" homosexuality, our nation's abandoning of Israel and catering to her enemies or simply the lack of concern that people seem to have for one another, the answer (and problem) is the same - sin.
Yes, it's a sin problem that we are dealing with, which means that the answer is not in what we can do. Well, let me step back for a moment. If it's "our personal " sin then there is something we must do. We must confess that sin. God's Word tells us that if we confess our sin (which means that we will completely agree with God that we have indeed sinned and broken His law) then Jesus will be faithful to forgive the sin: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (NKJV)
Again, I can't stress this enough, confession means "agreeing in thought" not just being sorry. So true confession is sorrow over breaking God's commands which in effect breaks His heart. But let's get back to the general condition of sin. What can we do about that? Should we march, rally and protest these things? Well, personally I think there are things far more productive and actually biblical that we can do.
We can carefully, consistently and truthfully examine our own lives to make sure we are living as we should: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified." (NKJV)
We should maintain a close abiding relationship with the Lord in and through His Word: John 8:31 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." (NKJV)
We should then pray, pray and pray even more: 2 Chronicles 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (NKJV)
So, let's not become disillusioned by everything going on. We shouldn't be surprised, and we probably haven't seen the worse. However, if you're a believer then you know that in the end God wins, and the great news is that as one of His children you win as well. And even now while we see sinfulness all around, we can agree with the sentiment of King David: Psalms 138:5 "Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD." (NKJV)
May the Lord richly bless you,
Pastor Tony
Well, my answers to those questions might surprise you, but I think when you look to God's Word, I wonder if those are the questions the Lord would have His children to be asking. Now, first let me say that unlike some who you might hear, I don't subscribe to the notion that this is a Christian nation. Yes I understand that a number of the founding fathers had a strong Christian faith, but let's face it, the nation is a "republic" and at no time has it been, nor was it ever intended to be a "theocracy" with the people ruled and led entirely by God. Therefore, should we even surprised when there are those who completely thumb their noses at God and His righteous ways? Not only shouldn't we be surprised, but we shouldn't expect anything else, especially from those who have unconverted and rebellious hearts. Notice what God's Word says about the heart of every man and woman, including believers: Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? " (NKJV)
That verse shows that man is naturally rebellious (rebelling against God's rule) and therefore sinful. So we shouldn't be surprised that our nations and the world in general seems to be heading further down the slippery slope of abject disobedience and sin. Now, while this might seem to be a recent or new condition, in actuality that's far from the case. The Bible tells us that from the very first sin committed by Adam and Eve, mankind was speeding headlong into more and more sin. Things got so bad at one time that God determined that He had to render a severe judgment upon sinful mankind - and oh, by the way this was only in the first book of the Bible. Notice the Lord's estimation of mankind at that time: Genesis 6:5 "Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (NKJV) How about that? The Lord not only saw "great" wickedness upon the earth, but that "every intent" and thought was "evil continually." You see, that's the "desperately wicked" heart mentioned in the Jeremiah passage. So we see that the horribly sinful condition we see today is far from new.
It only seems new because man is pretty good at covering things up. One of the things man has been attempting to cover up from the very beginning are his sinful tendencies. Just think back to how Adam and Eve attempted to cover their shame after falling into sin. While they desired to "cover" the sin, acting as if it never happened, God wanted them to admit the sin so that He might deal with it. It's really no different today. And that brings me to the second question of what can be done about the abominable things we see happening in our nation and world today. The first thing is that we need to look at them as sin. Whether we are speaking about the brutally senseless terrorism and killing of innocent people, the increasing agenda to promote and "normalize" homosexuality, our nation's abandoning of Israel and catering to her enemies or simply the lack of concern that people seem to have for one another, the answer (and problem) is the same - sin.
Yes, it's a sin problem that we are dealing with, which means that the answer is not in what we can do. Well, let me step back for a moment. If it's "our personal " sin then there is something we must do. We must confess that sin. God's Word tells us that if we confess our sin (which means that we will completely agree with God that we have indeed sinned and broken His law) then Jesus will be faithful to forgive the sin: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (NKJV)
Again, I can't stress this enough, confession means "agreeing in thought" not just being sorry. So true confession is sorrow over breaking God's commands which in effect breaks His heart. But let's get back to the general condition of sin. What can we do about that? Should we march, rally and protest these things? Well, personally I think there are things far more productive and actually biblical that we can do.
We can carefully, consistently and truthfully examine our own lives to make sure we are living as we should: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you are disqualified." (NKJV)
We should maintain a close abiding relationship with the Lord in and through His Word: John 8:31 "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed." (NKJV)
We should then pray, pray and pray even more: 2 Chronicles 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (NKJV)
So, let's not become disillusioned by everything going on. We shouldn't be surprised, and we probably haven't seen the worse. However, if you're a believer then you know that in the end God wins, and the great news is that as one of His children you win as well. And even now while we see sinfulness all around, we can agree with the sentiment of King David: Psalms 138:5 "Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, For great is the glory of the LORD." (NKJV)
May the Lord richly bless you,
Pastor Tony