We began this morning with the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States of America:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
The basics of the government for the United States are clear in this Preamble to the Constitution. Sadly, we the people have interpreted the Constitution ignoring the real intent of the original writers! What happens when we do this? When one does not consider the specific intent of a writer, what ever is written is open to opinions; it’s like handling this piece of art………(show blank white screen) What do you think this is called by the artist??
Shouldn’t we consider the creators of anything we value?
The Founding Fathers of this country were Believers of Jesus Christ and they believed the Bible is the final authority in life! The Founding Fathers of the United States knew that the Bible had authority over anything they wrote; this was the main reason for leaving England and moving to the New World of America! The problem of course is that the Founding Fathers never thought that people after them would not see the Bible as God’s Word.
Consider this: If the Constitution of the United States does not accept the Bible as the main truth for life, this country can be Communist, Socialist, Muslim, Hindu, or anything else that “we the people” would have the greatest opinion. It is up to us Christians today to fight the good fight of faith in God, in Jesus Christ, and in the Bible! Is this country worth fighting for? Absolutely! But we must fight for Liberty as defined by the Founders of the U.S. Liberty, true freedom and true blessings, only comes from Jesus Christ!
Let us be equipped and fight the good fight of faith in Jesus Christ! Let us continue to learn from God’s Word. Open your Bibles to Romans Chapter 5……..
Romans 5:1-5 gives us 3 important keys for the good fight of faith: Peace, Hope, and the ability to take a Stand!
In order for us to fight the good fight of faith and bring back this country to the original intent of the Founding Fathers, we must have peace, hope, and be able to stand on truth!
How can we have real peace?
Romans 5:1 tells us that peace is obtained through Jesus Christ and by being justified by faith. And what does being justified means? Being justified means to be legally freed of all wrongdoing! Go back briefly to Romans 3:22-24……
And so, to bring America to where it should be, we must believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and receive the peace that only He can provide!
Are you at peace with God right now?
Can you picture Jesus Christ right beside you?
If not, today is the day to either accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and God for the first time or totally rest and rely on Him, who is the Only Prince of Peace! Only Jesus Christ can give us true peace!
How can we have hope?
Look again at the end of Romans 5:2………….
Hope comes with the glory of God! And what is the glory of God? Hebrews 1:3 states, The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.
And the Word of God tells us in Titus 2:13-14, while we wait for the blessed hope-the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
And look again at verse 5 of Romans 5…………
Christians have God the Holy Spirit in their hearts!
And so, to bring America to where it should be, we all must have the hope of God’s glory, who is Jesus Christ, now and forever. Two questions to ask ourselves: 1. Am I daily yielding to God the Holy Spirit within me? 2. Am I looking forward to the day of Jesus’ return to earth and call me home paradise?
If we don’t do these 2 things, we can easily miss out on God’s glory in our lives and loose hope!
And the third thing we must have, to fight the good fight of faith and bring America to where it should be, is the ability to stand, to have the foundation which will never be shaken!
How can we have the ability to stand on an unshakeable foundation? Again, look at Romans 5:2…..
How can we take a stand? We can take a stand again through Jesus Christ! One reason why this is true is stated in Romans 5:2.
Believers of Christ have God’s grace which is undeserved favor! In other, words, Believers of Jesus Christ have the Almighty God on their side! Romans 8:31 tells us, “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” As a Christian, you have God on your side, no matter what happens in this world!
The other reason why we can stand through Jesus Christ is because there is no other foundation than Christ the Rock.
Remember what Jesus said about building on a solid foundation? Matthew 7:24-27, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
And so, to bring America to where it should be, we must all build our lives based on the words of Jesus Christ. Besides people, God’s Word is the only other thing in this world that is eternal!
How often do we listen to the Words of God? And more importantly, are we taking a stand on what Jesus said?
Now, does fighting the good fight for God going to be easy?
What does v3 tell us? There will be sufferings in the good fight of faith! And what good are sufferings?
Sufferings will test our faith and build our faith! And as we continue with our faith in Jesus Christ, we will persevere and our character will be built up! And as our character is built up, we trust God even more! This is the life of the Christian. Until Jesus returns to earth, there will be trials which will strengthen us! We must see trials as means to strengthen us to continue to fight the good fight of faith!
Are you concerned with America? We should be; this is our home for now and our society is going farther and farther from God!
Are you concerned about the Church of Christ in this world?
We should be; we Christians belong to Christ’s Church but many in the world are seeing the church going farther and farther away from God’s Word!
What must we do?
1. Completely trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and God!
2. Be informed daily (both current events and Scriptures).
3. Pray daily for the Church and for America!
4. Grow your faith in Christ through sufferings.
