Interceding for America
Psalms 2
After last week’s message I did a great deal more soul searching. For some time now I have not been happy with my own relationship with the Lord. I am increasing more aware of the masses around us who don’t go to church; probably don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and will die and go to hell, but whose hearts are increasing in irritation towards the Christian population. It is, I believe, the combination of these two characteristics that reveal why this nation is falling right before our eyes. The unchurched population is growing exponentially and with that the anti-Christian sentiment is producing a society that God will not support, thus the downward spiral of America.
Here’s another thing that is weighing heavy on my heart. I certainly want these lost people to know that Jesus is the way the truth and life and have them believe in Him, accept and become Disciples of Christ. But my desire is not a broken hearted passion. I am more irritated and aggravated at what these anti-Christian activists are doing than I am moved in my spirit to share Jesus. I need a change of heart. I need and I am praying for a revival in my soul, in my church and most definitely in America.
Let me point out that the opposition to the cross is much deeper than just a large portion of our society just being backslidden and rejecting righteousness out of a rebellious heart. It’s not just a large population that believes there is a God, and that they need to follow Him, but they just haven’t gotten around to it.
Church we are looking at an extreme hatred for the Christian message. I am going to show you a video clip this morning and let you listen to Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, among other books that preach an intolerance for anything promoting Christianity. But he goes much further in the debate. He unashamedly states that the Evangelical Christian message should be seen as the worst thing that has ever happened to humanity and abolished from society; and people are listening to him and many like him.
Now folks, it’s one thing for a few people here and there to express these kind of ideas. But this is a massively mounting opinion driven by educators who teach in most if not all our major universities and community colleges throughout this land.
Last week I showed you some pictures of anti-Christian events happening in America.
The WWII War Memorial in the Mojave Desert that has become a Supreme Court battle; The picture or president Obama who spoke George Washington University, a Catholic College, at which this atheist Christopher Hitchens teaches there regularly and where he had the picture of the Cross covered so as not to offend;
Here is a picture of a home in San Diego, Ca., where a pastor and his wife have been told they cannot have a Bible study in their home. The couple says they were interrogated by a San Diego County official, and then threatened with ever increasing fines if they refuse to stop the Bible study. According to the couple’s attorney, they were questioned about the Bible study. "’Do you have a regular meeting in your home?" The pastor’s wife replied, "Yes." "Do you say ’amen’?" the official asked. "Yes," she replied. "Do you pray?" Again she said, "Yes." "Do you say ’praise the Lord’?" Another "Yes." The official told the pastor and his wife they were in violation of county rules.
The Bible study usually has an average of about 15 people.
A few days later they got a written warning that listed the home Bible study an "unlawful use of land." They were notified to "stop religious assembly or apply for a major use permit," which could cost them thousands of dollars.
Where is all this coming from?
Here’s some fat to chew on:
• NS 70-75% of Christian youth leave the church after high school
• Intellectual skepticism is one of the major reasons they walk away.
• Most Christian students are unequipped to resist rabidly anti-Christian college professors who are intent on converting their students to atheism.
• College professors are five times more likely to identify themselves as atheists than the general public.
• More than half of all college professors view evangelical Christian students unfavorably
• The “new atheists”—Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens—are writing books and are growing in popularity. http://www.crossexamined.org/index.asp
Young adults aren’t sticking with church. 70% of surveyed Protestants stopped attending by age 23.
By Cathy Lynn Grossman
USA TODAY
Protestant churches are losing young adults in "sobering" numbers, a survey finds.
Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30 — both evangelical and mainline — who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research. And 34% of those said they had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church.
"This is sobering news that the church needs to change the way it does ministry," says Ed Stetzer, director of Nashville-based LifeWay Research, which is affiliated with the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.
"It seems the teen years are like a free trial on a product. By 18, when it’s their choice whether to buy in to church life, many don’t feel engaged and welcome," says associate director Scott McConnell.
The statistics are based on a survey of 1,023 Protestants ages 18 to 30 who said they had attended church at least twice a month for at least one year during high school. LifeWay did the survey in April and May. Margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.
In the survey I read, it was a hypocritical uncaring and unwelcoming church population that could not hold on to their own.
However, in those churches where the young people saw a genuine sacrificial, loving and caring congregation, the church retained more and even of those who did separate for a while, most found themselves drawn back to the fellowship after a few years.
The survey found that those who stayed with or returned to church grew up with both parents committed to the church, pastors whose sermons were relevant and engaging, and church members who invested in their spiritual development.
Church we must intercede on behalf of our children who are buying into this anti-Christian movement and the worst part is they don’t even know it. They are like the frog in the kettle. You put a frog in a pot of cool water and you can gradually turn up the heat and cook him and he won’t even struggle. The heat is ragging and our land cooking with anti-Christian philosophy and our children are being boiled in it and they need to see the church come alive and launch an all out effort to save them.
Here’s the point behind this introduction: America is going south at an alarming rate and it is going to take a seriously eye-opening event to turn things around. Listen, Christianity is a joke to most every major learning institution in America, Hollywood and most every major news outlet.
What happened to the nation Israel time and time again is on the brink of happening in America. Listen to what God spoke to Israel in 2 Chronicles 7:19-21
“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and worship them, 20 then I will uproot them from My land which I have given them; and this house which I have sanctified for My name I will cast out of My sight, and will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples.
21 “And as for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and this house?’
But this not what the LORD desires for the nation that has been an enormous blessing to the world.
I love this quote from President Ronald Reagan: “If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, the we will be a Nation Gone Under.”
But listen to our text in Ps 2:
Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, Ps 2:8.
God loves our nation and He desires that this nation seeks and finds Him. Now listen to this from Acts 17
And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
Do you see those words? and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings
God is in control of the nations. He is the One who determines how long a nation will stand or fall. Luke goes on to say in Acts:
“so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him,” Acts 17:26-27
Church, we desperately need God to intervene and put an end to the uprising of wickedness in this great land or America will fall.
God loves us and wants the very best for us. But He will not support a nation that blasphemes His Holy Name. And, He will not support a people who are embarrassed to proclaim His truth. Listen to this Psalm:
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, The people He has chosen as His own inheritance. Ps 33:12
Any nation who chooses to rebel against His love and will, and surely the painful consequences will come.
I believe America is at a crossroad and the church must intercede for America unlike any period in our history. The consequences of failing to intercede now are unthinkable.
Wall Street does not have the answers to the problems we face.
Washington does not have the answers to the problems we face.
Worldly, left-wing religion does not have the answers to the problems we face.
World-political bodies, such as the United Nations, surely do not have the answers to the problems we face.
The Word of God does, if we are wise enough to seek truth here and obey it.
Psalm 2 is a messianic psalm serving as a warning to the nations who are assembling in rebellion against God and His Messiah.
There is a truly wonderful and hope-inspiring promise made by the Father to His Anointed Son regarding asking for the nations (2:8).
We know that powerful, result-getting prayer comes from Jesus by the Spirit through His church back to the Father. The Father invites His Son to intercede for the nations to become His inheritance. But church, this means we are to intercede on behalf of America to honor the Son and forsake rebellion against Him.
Three Observations from Psalm 2
I. The nations are aligning themselves in rebellion against God and
His Anointed. (2:1-3)
A. The aligning of the nations (2:1)
1. They rage. Remember the San Diego family. The officials in that county are seething with anger against this pastor and his wife. I will promise you they won’t petition a family who holds weekly Tupperware parties. Those homes where 6-10 people gather for poker night, or Sunday night football won’t be bothered.
2. They plot. Last week I heard on the news that the Obama administration set new rules for men and women of the Armed Forces that they can no longer participate in charitable fund raising when it is for a church. It makes no difference whether they are in uniform or not.
3. They set themselves. It started with removing prayer and Bible from our schools and this sentiment is deeply rooted in prominent places in our society.
4. They take counsel together. As we gather each week to learn the truths of Scriptures and to grow in Christ, there are people gathering in counsel to remove this freedom we enjoy. WHY?
B. The purpose of the plotting
1. To burst the bonds. “tear their fetters” (v 3)
2. To cast away the cords
II. God’s response to the rebellious nations? Warn them of His purpose for His Son. (2:4-9)
A. God sits enthroned in heaven (4a) The arguments that God does not exist are ridiculous to those of us who know Jesus Christ as personal LORD and Savior. And they are powerful arguments. But Church, the arguments are going to get better and stronger so much so that even the “very elect might be led astray.” As ridiculous as those arguments are to us, so are our arguments to them. But we have been told this and should be wise to this kind of opposition: In 1 Cor 1 Paul said:
NS For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Cor 1:18
Now, how does that effect God?
B. He laughs at the foolish rebellion of the nations (4a)
C. He holds them in derision (4b)
D. He will speak to them in his wrath (5a)
E. He will terrify them in his fury (5b)
F. He declares His exaltation of His King (6)
G. The Anointed Son speaks of the Father’s decree (7)
No matter what the nation may come to you and I need to boldly live and proclaim this truth from Philp 2:10-11
NS that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Here’s the thing; No matter how eloquent and educated the world may become against Christianity we know the day is coming..
NS For it is written:
“ As I live, says the LORD, Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Romans 14:10-12
1. Jesus is the Son of God Whom the Father has raised from the dead (7)
2. Jesus may ask for the nations to become His inheritance, ruling them with power (8-9)
Note: We must ask the Father, in Jesus’ Name, that America be given to Jesus as His rightful inheritance. We are to intercede for America to forsake our rebellion against God and to return to honoring Him and His Son, Jesus. No nation can remain neutral about Jesus.
III. The Rulers Of The Nations Are Urgently Warned To Return To The Lord By Properly Honoring The Son. (2:10-12)
A. The nations are to serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling (11)
B. The nations are to properly honor the Son, aware of the risks of offending Him through rebellion (12)
Note: Verse 12 tells us to “Kiss the Son.” This can mean to kiss the feet of God’s Anointed King as a sign of loyalty, humility, love and worship. Be aware of two types of kisses in Scripture: One is the superficial kiss of betrayal such as that of Judas toward Jesus.
“And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?” Luke 22:47-48
There is also the genuine kiss of affection and worship.
“You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet.” (Luke 7:45)
Dear friends I call you to fall on your knees before a Holy God in intercession for a wonderful nation that is about to fall on its face.
I plead with those of you who can to fast and pray for revival. Ask God to forgive you and reveal your personal rebellion against Him.
Ask God to give you a passion for those who grope in darkness and do not know they are perishing.
Ask God to open our eyes to see the danger we are in and to do something before it’s too late.
Ask God to send revival.
The basic outline for this sermon was taken from the “Call2fall” sermon starter on the AFR web page.
