* Tomorrow, we will celebrate 235 years since some great men signed a document which could have been their very death warrant.
* That document begins with “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
* This document is said to have served as a moral statement that has guided this nation for 235 years.
* Notice the touchstone of this document, a God and creator who gifted mankind with rights and responsibilities.
* From that is where our country has drifted. We have fallen to the temptation of placing a higher priority on the created than upon the Creator.
* These men viewed themselves as very common representatives of mankind, but they felt they had a chance to join in on one of God’s great works in the world.
* John Adams wrote his wife during the drafting of the Declearation of Independence.
* In that letter, he said.
* “The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”
* And, so, as a nation, we began; with a foundation stone, a reliance on God our creator.
* Our nation was founded not only on surrender to His lordship, but based upon His view of the value of the individual.
* Our nation was based on the love of God, so great for a fallen people, He sent His only Son to take our punishment.
* It was based on the idea that there was no man, woman, boy or girl that was so low they could separate themselves from the His reign and righteousness, nor could they outreach His love and grace.
* What has gone so terribly wrong?
* Today, I often hear great pride in our nation, but for the wrong reasons.
* I often hear pride in humanity and our accomplishments.
* So many messages have crept into the Church that exalt the “creature instead of the creator”.
* “You can do whatever you set your mind to do.”
* “Wish it. Dream it. Do it.”
* Our message to new graduates is often about opportunity.
* The message sounds good, often sounds right.
* Pro 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
* From the earliest moment, a young child dreams of independence and self-assurance.
* Much of our education system fortifies this search without God.
* Yet something inside us calls for freedom; true freedom that we cannot find on our own.
* We hear the call for independence, but we do not grasp its meaning.
* Joh 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
* Today, I want us to look at man’s quest for independence when it went so badly wrong.
* Our hope is that we can glean from it the meaning of independence.
* You see, true independence only comes from a dependence upon God.
Gen 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
Gen 11:8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
* Recap….
* Their pride brought to reality their greatest fear.
* Their pride was an expression of their desire to be independent from God.
* Humility is always accompanied with trust in God and seeking His will and direction.
* The self-determination of these people, though it may on the surface seem commendable, was rebellion against God.
* Gen. 9:1 gave them their marching orders from God.
* “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”
* Instead of filling the earth, mankind came up with the idea of staying in one place.
* This is disobedience to the plan of God.
* The change in this story pivots on “The Lord came down”.
* God allows mankind to choose his own course until we go so far.
* God intervened here because:
* (three things that, together, brought on God’s direct intervention.
I. Disobedience: Their actions were in direct disobedience to Him.
* Elisabeth Elliot, 76, told of her brother Thomas Howard. Their mother let him play with paper bags she'd saved if he put them away afterwards. One day she walked into the kitchen to find them strewn all over the floor. Tom was out at the piano with his father singing hymns. When confronted, he protested, "But Mom, I want to sing." His father stated, "It's no good singing God's praise if you're disobedient."
* There is no praise to God when you’re in rebellion.
* There is no praise to God when you are out of fellowship with a brother or sister.
* If you are carrying a grudge. If you have that secret sin. If you have that habit.
* Isa 29:13 And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,
* Worship begins at the alter of God, giving ALL to HIM.
* You can go through the motions, but there is no worship, no praise, outside the complete surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
* Preachers can preach, dead as a doornail.
* Musicians can sing, cold as an Alaskan Crab.
* Ushers can collect, greeters can speak, smile, shake and nod. Lifeless due to lack of surrender and obedience to God.
* There is no worship or praise until we say, “God, you are Lord, King of my life, owner of all that I have, my only strength. Forgive me of my selfishness and disobedience. Fill me with praise.”
* When we give up and give all, we obey completely and then we can praise completely.
II. Disregard: Their actions were in independence to Him.
* These people had no regard for God in their plans.
* They actually thought they could live without any consideration of God.
* Listen again to the self-centeredness of their words.
* "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
* Disregard, I believe, is where most of our disobedience comes from.
* Most of us Christians will not look up to the heavens and consider saying, “God, I don’t care what you say!”
* Now, in my counseling, I have dealt with professed Christians who took that attitude about something or another.
* It is always something they are passionate about.
* It is usually due to a life filled with self-gratification or self-protection.
* It comes from a lack of understanding the plan of God in our lives to the point we develop distrust.
* And, it usually requires a lot of counseling to overcome. Or, a God-sent crisis to hasten the “end of self”.
* What I see more often in the life of most of us (me included), is a daily disregard for God in what we do.
* Pro 3:5-6Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own under-standing. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.
* Our corporate worship and service is affected when our personal regard for God is slacking.
* When we bar God from our lives, we are a step closer to painful intervention from God.
III. Damage: Their actions were going to bring great damage to mankind.
* I hope by now, you see that mankind was heading for trouble. The whole group had turned from God.
* 6. And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
* The people were unified in their rebellion, self-centeredness, and determination to live without the God of Eternity.
* According to Alan P. Ross, archeological digs in the area believed to be described here discovered the beginnings of a “man-made mountain” built during this period, made of bricks described in this passage.
* It spiraled upwards, and would have been enormous if it had been completed.
* Each of the bricks that were discovered had the name “Marduk” inscribed.
* Marduk was the precursor of the god Baal.
* These people had already turned from the worship of the God who delivered their fathers from the flood to worshiping the god of vegetation and magic.
* Such worship involved slavery, child prostitution and abuse of the weak of society.
* Damage: God knows that our walking away from Him leads to death, eternal death.
* It leads to judgment for a nation, because a nation turned away from God ruins lives.
* It devalues God’s creation, but worst of all, it rejects the God of creation.
* Our nation has legally aborted more than 53 million babies since 1973.
* In those situations, God has granted life, but to our damage, we have disregarded the giver of life and claimed that decision for ourselves.
* We are teaching our children in the public schools that in the name of tolerance, men with men and women with women can do the unnatural, rebellious, damaging and sinful and call it marriage.
* Because of the deterioration of the high ideal of marriage God set for us, 50% percent of first marriages, 67% of second and 74% of third marriages end in divorce, according to Jennifer Baker of the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Missouri.
* What about the impact on children? See attached…..
* Transistion: People ask me sometimes how much longer will God allow our nation to destroy lives before He sends strong judgment?
* I don’t know. Usually, when one asks that question, they have an opinion.
* Those opinions vary. This I know.
* When our nation lives in stark disobedience to God, in disregard to God in our lives and dealings, and damaging to our children and selves, judgment is near.
* And judgment is painful.
* Look at their plans and the results:
1) Their greatest dependence (strength) (unity) was removed by God.
2) Their greatest (dread) fear (separation) became their reality.
3) Their greatest desire (name) was reversed. shame.
* About nation, but it is about you, today. Where do we go from here?
* There is hope.
Zep 3:9 "For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the LORD and serve him with one accord.
Zep 3:10 From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones, shall bring my offering.
Zep 3:11 "On that day you shall not be put to shame because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.
* What will it take for God to turn this nation around? It may be too late.
* Or, Maybe that is the wrong question.
* The question is, what is your responsibility in turning our nation around to God? Mine?
* Political activism? Writing letters? Protesting? Marching on Washington and Austin?
* Where does the Master say to begin?
* 2Ch 7:14 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.
* Our country will not become dependent upon God unless His people do.
* “His people” means me and you.
* Our responsibility begins with our lives.
* Sign seen in a textile mill, "When your thread becomes tangled, call the foreman." A young woman was new on the job. Her thread became tangled and she thought, "I'll just straighten this out myself." She tried, but the situation only worsened. Finally she called the foreman. "I did the best I could," she said. "No you didn't. To do the best, you should have called me."
