God Bless Australia
Psalm 33:10-12 "The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD; [and] the people [whom] he hath chosen for his own inheritance."
Psalm 11:2-3 "For, lo, the wicked bend [their] bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:2-3)
Psalm 7:9 "Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins."
Prov. 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Job 34:30 "Godless men should not rule, nor be snares of the people."
Prov. 29:2 "When the righteous become great, the people rejoice, when wicked men rule , people groan."
On this Australia Day weekend we are called to stop for a moment and take stock of the blessings of freedom and to remember the sacrifices of those who purchased such freedoms. It is a time we should look around us at the great blessings God has poured out upon us and pause and praise Him for all that is good and great in our land. ask ourselves,
As we once again count the blessings of living in a land in which we are free to worship Him according to the dictates of the Word of God and to go about our daily lives without fear of persecution or even the loss of our lives for expressing our faith, we should surely say and pray today, "God Bless Australia." But in order to sincerely do so, we must first ask ourselves if we are willing to do our part to build or rebuild a nation that God would view as a fit recipient of His continuing blessings? I believe principles enunciated in God’s statement to Israel on the matter still hold true today, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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." (II Chronicles 7:14)
In order to determine our responsibilities as Christian citizens in a free land, we must first determine what is right to do and what are the scriptural parameters of Christian action. What did Jesus really mean when He said that we should render unto Caesar that which belongs to Caesar? What did Paul and Peter mean when they asserted we should recognize the role of government and be submissive to the laws of the land? (Ro. 13:1-7, I Peter 2:11-16) It would be difficult to read such verses in their context and cultural setting without conceding that Christians do have responsibilities relative to supporting and praying for good government.
But what about Christians and contemporary politics as practiced in the real democratic nations of our world today? Do we have a responsibility to work within the framework of democratic processes to achieve and support good government?
This question raises an additional interesting and vital question, "Should Christians be involved in politics?" This is an often asked and emotive question. It is often designed to illicit a strong response. Do we as Christians have the right and even the duty to be involved in such mundane and worldly matters? The world and many sincere Christians seem to feel we do not.
But this is the wrong question. The real question should be phrased something like this, "Can a Christian refuse to become involved in the battle for good government and the establishment of righteousness in the land?" Has God called us to merely gather in holy huddles and sit around introspectively, as “navel inspectors”, venturing forth only to occasionally proclaim the gospel? Surely Christ had more than this in mind when He said we are called to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We only need to make a cursory survey of the Bible to discover those such as Daniel, Joseph and Esther. They served God with their whole hearts and beings, never compromising their faith or changing their convictions. But where did they serve Him? In the corridors of power and the cabinet rooms of the most powerful pagan governments of their day. Through them God blessed His people and the nations in which they dwelt.
If we as Christian citizens would honour our calling to be activists for righteousness in the world in which we live, we must first ask ourselves, "What is the greatest need of our world today? What can we do to have the greatest impact for the gospel and good in our great nation of Australia on this Australia Day weekend?" The greatest need for our nation is for people in the world to personally come to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Only as people are truly converted and accept the challenge of true discipleship and the calling to commit their life and living to Christ, will the tides of evil that threaten to inundate and overwhelm our world be effectively countered.
What is lacking in the world today is a real committal to a cause. People are without direction. Like ships without rudders, tossed to and fro upon the restless waves by every wind of teaching or philosophy. Apathy permeates every echelon of man’s mundane and material existence. Nothing appears worth living or dying for. The question that leapt to the lips of the shepherd boy, David, needs to once more echo among God’s people in our land and in every land upon God’s good earth. The shepherd boy who became the man after God’s own heart cried out, "Is there not a cause?" He then proceeded to do mighty battle in the power of God for the noble cause of the destruction of evil and the preservation of a righteous nation.
We seem to once again live in a day similar to the catastrophic day following the era of the Judges of Israel. Anarchy prevails and everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes. Which is normally what is wrong in the eyes of an eternally righteous Almighty God. All seek to be captains of their own souls, masters of their own fates, sailing their own ships and rowing their own canoes down the river of life, with no worthwhile spiritual destination or safe harbor in sight. Even Christians seem to be afflicted with the same deadly malady, as they allow this world and it’s god to establish their standards, select their priorities and set their agenda.
The failure of Christians to fully commit to Christ and present themselves as living, dedicated sacrifices to His cause, has led to great confusion in the world. We are overwhelmed by the moral and ethical crisis threatening to destroy our nation and other nations with cultures previously called Christian. We are confused by the popular philosophies of secular humanism, relativism, situational ethics and post-modernism that have captured the hearts and minds of the masses. We are puzzled by the prevailing promiscuity of our society. We are perplexed when the culture cries, "Assert your rights. If it feels good, do it!"
But God is calling for committal today on the part of His people. He is looking for those who will stand up, speak up and won’t be shut up, no matter how powerful the pressure or painful or embarrassing the world’s rejection. Those who will not cave in or succumb to the ridicule or scorn of their peers, the press or politicians. Those who will not be overly concerned about what the mainline or mainstream will think or say about them. Those who are more concerned about God’s approval than the acceptance and applause of all the world around them.
Yes, God is seeking those who care more about the future of their family, than financial success or failure. Those whose principles are not for purchase at any price. Those who do not mind the world knowing who they are and where they stand. Those will hold the line against accommodation and compromise whatever the cost. Those who take seriously the words of Christ who said, "No man can serve two masters." Because truly, as has been said, "Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife "twixt truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side." God is calling His people to make that decision today.
The nation of Australia, founded upon the principles of the Bible and a Judeo-Christian philosophy, needs a renewal and revival of that philosophy. If we read Australian history we will find that although our founding fathers were not necessarily Christian pilgrims, many of our early settlers were looking for a new and free life based upon Biblical principles of right and wrong and freedom. As one of our songs tells us, many saw this land as the, "Great South Land of the Holy Spirit."
What about our future? Without a return to those core Biblical values, will, or can, God continue to bless Australia? Will He, as our national anthem says, "Advance Australia Fair"? Will He allow nations such as ours to retain and maintain the precious liberties we so often take for granted?
One great man once said that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance. Someone else has said that a nation gets the kind of leaders they wish and deserve. We know that when the people of Israel desired a king, God was not necessarily pleased. But he granted their populist preference. From that point onward, the nation embarked upon a roller coaster ride of declining spirituality and morality that reflects the truth of the wise man’s words: "When the righteous become great, the people rejoice, when wicked men rule , people groan." (Prov. 29:2)
History informs us of many parallels. The Babylonians and the Medo-Persians created two successive great and powerful empires. Daniel tells us of the demise of both. They were idolaters that drank their way to doom in one drunken orgy after another. They were ultimately weighed in God’s balances and found wanting.
This illustration brings no news to cheer our nation. We have the honor of having the very highest per capita rates of alcohol consumption and alcoholism in the world. I read recently a drunken man running down three teenagers walking along a footpath just up North of us. I was standing in line at a supermarket recently and heard a young employee boasting to another young employee about how drunk he had been over the weekend. There were winks, nods, nudges and laughter all around. As if somehow this proves ones manhood. Just a few weeks ago I overheard a clerk at a counter regale his customers with the same sort of comment about his Christmas celebration.
Egypt flourished under the Godly leadership of Joseph and the enlightened shepherd kings. Four hundred years passed and decadent Egypt was judged by God and went down to the earth in destruction to never rise again as a significant world power.
Alexander the Great led Greece to conquer the world. But he could not conquer himself. It is said he died at the early age of thirty-eight in a drunken orgy, bemoaning the fact he had no more worlds to conquer, and a whole civilization came tumbling down.
The rise and fall of decadent Rome is the central fact of the history of Western Civilization. Gibbons laid out the pattern of the moral decline leading to the fall of this great empire in his classic text. That pattern is all too familiar and coincidental to our contemporary cultures.
Just what makes a nation great? This old verse seems to sum it up quite well:
What Makes A Nation Great
Not serried ranks with flags unfurled, Nor armoured ships that gird the world,
Not hoarded wealth nor busy mills, Not cattle upon a thousand hills,
Not sages wise, nor schools or laws, Not boasted deeds or freedom’s cause,
All these may be, and yet that state, In the eyes of God be far from great.
That land is great which knows the Lord, Whose songs are guided by His word,
Where justice rules ’twixt man and man, Where love controls in art and plan,
Where breathing in his native air, Each soul finds joy in praise and prayer -
Thus may our country, good and great, BE GOD’S DELIGHT - MAN’S BEST ESTATE. - Alexander Blackburn
GOD HAS RICHLY BLESSED AUSTRALIA. He has given us a beautiful country with rich and abundant natural resources. Our mineral deposits equal or surpass those of any nation. The vast iron deposits and gold fields of Western Australia, the diamond mines of the Kimberlys and the opal fields in our out back speak of God’s goodness to us. The vast coal deposits all up and down our Eastern States and the gas fields of the Northwest shelf, fuel the industries of nations. Our wonderful climate enables us to be a food basket for the world. We export vast quantities of grains, fruits, vegetables, seafood, mutton and beef to hungry nations and peoples around the world.. Our cotton and wool clothe millions. Yes, we are uniquely blessed.
God has given us good government based upon a Judeo-Christian heritage and British Common Law. Relatively, we have one of the very best governments in the world. We enjoy freedoms that most of the citizens of the world can only dream about. This is confirmed each year by the thousands who seek to immigrate here and those who risk life and limb in rickety boats to reach our shores and seek asylum in our nation. There are no concentration camps in Australia. People are not executed for seeking to flee our land. There are no dreaded knocks in the middle of the night. There are no mass graves filled with the bodies or those who have been killed by despotic dictators and godless regimes.
Every person in our nation has a free voice and a free vote. In governmental matters the voice of the people can reflect the way and will of God. We have freedom of religion and speech. I can still say just about anything I wish from this pulpit. There is yet no law that can muzzle me. I can tell you the truth about anything from our Premier to Prime Minister.
Contrast this with some contemporary nations and other nations of our recent past. When the communists came to power in Romania, 1,500 Baptist Churches were closed with one stroke of the pen. May 1, 1937, Stalin issued this decree: "There must not remain in the territory of the Soviet Union a single house of prayer to God - the very concept of God will be banished from the boundaries of Russia." Over 7,000 preachers and clergymen were then killed. In nations such as China and Cuba, God’s people still suffer in prisons and are sometimes killed for their faith. In nation’s such as the Sudan and other Muslim nations, Christians still pay a terrible price if they wish to freely exercise their faith.
Let us praise God for His past blessings upon our nation and pray He will continue to bless us.
AUSTRALIA NEEDS GOD TODAY. It seems we have tried everything else in recent years. Political parties have come and gone. New political movements blossom and flourish and then fade into history. New financial fads appear and then pass away. New social schemes come and go. Relativism and permissiveness have led to the pursuit of pleasure as a national preoccupation. We have gone off the gold standard and abandoned God’s standards. Hundreds of books on New Age Religions of ancient origin replace the few Christian books on the shelves of our bookstores.
When a physician gives a prescription to someone who is ill, it must be filled and followed. If not, what right does one have to expect to be healed of his disease? God has given a prescription for the healing of sin sick nations. Will our nation take the cure or are we too hooked on the pursuit of pleasure?
We need those who recognize God in government. We need to not only pray for righteous leaders in our land, but be willing to speak up and act out our scriptural convictions. We need to be ready to stand against and oppose those who are philosophically and religiously opposed to God and His righteousness. We need Godliness in our homes and the institutions of our nations. But more than anything else, we need to be about the Master’s business of winning and discipling the souls of men.
History tells us that the greatest upsurge in church attendance occurred in France when the Nazis were storming the gates of Paris. Pearl Harbour saw the same thing happen in the U. S. The Japanese attack on Darwin saw Australians returning to their churches as well. The events of 11/9 and the Bali attack brought a few people to visit our church who had not darkened the door for some time. God will truly bless Australia again when His people heed His call to true repentance.
"If my people, which are called by my name, shall 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." (II Chronicles 7:14)
If you are yet lost and without Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, you need to be saved by His grace today. This will be the greatest blessing of your lifetime and will last in eternity and will be a blessing to your family, friends and the nation of Australia as well!
