State of the Nation and Signs of the Times
We just celebrated the birthday of our nation. A lot has happen over the last 227 years. A group of people left England to start a new colony at Cape Cod, Virginia. They left England because of the King was endorsing a state church. These people wanted to worship Christ without the mandates of the King. On November 11, 1620, the first charter of government was adopted and signed in the new land. This document was the Mayflower Compact. In part it states:
“In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord, King James, by the Grace of God, of England, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, and Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern part of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid;”
This first charter of our present government makes it clear, that this nation was founded under and for Christian principles. This country was founded to “advance the Christian Faith.” Today there are many organizations and political parties that are trying to push Christianity out of our nation and make it where the name of our God cannot be mention in public.
On July 4th, 1776, the Declaration of Independence was signed. In part it stated states:
“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.”
Even our declaration of independence states that our creator blessed us with this nation for the purpose of the freedom to worship our Lord without persecution.
The Northwest Ordinance of August 7th, 1789 even stated that religion was necessary for a good government. It states in part:
“Religion, morality, and knowledge being essential to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged.”
Our forefathers knew without religion in our government and schools we were doomed for self-destruction. The first textbook used in our school systems was the Holy Bible; today in most schools the Bible cannot be opened in school.
Our forefathers were concern about our religious freedom, so they even included it in the first amendment of our constitution.
June 15, 1790
Amendment I:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
It states that no laws or judgments could be made prohibiting our freedom to worship nor could the government force its citizens to worship a certain religion or be a member of a certain denomination.
Because we have not followed Christ’s teachings to be the salt and light of the world, we have allowed our nation to turn away from its Christian roots. Some examples are:
1948: It is a violation of the Establishment Clause for Jewish, Catholic or Protestant religious instruction in public school buildings.
1962: The daily recitation of prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. Daily school-directed reading of the Bible and daily recitation of the Lord’s Prayer, violates the Establishment Clause.
1980: The court struck down a state law requiring public schools to post the Ten Commandments.
1985: A state law requiring a moment of “mediation or voluntary prayer” was struck down as an establishment of religion because the intent was religious.
1992: A minister cannot offer prayer at a public school graduation.
2000: The court struck down a school district’s policy that allowed an elected student to open football games with a public prayer.
Today: People are trying to remove the word “God” from our “Pledge of Allegiance.” The US Supreme Court has struck down State’s Sodomy Laws. The acceptance of marriages between two men or two women is considered legal and moral. Pornography is now considered free speech and legal. The killing of 9-month-old unburned babies is legal and considered a choice instead of murder.
After September 11th, 2001, you would think we would have seen a revival in this nation, but the opposite has occurred. Because of 9/11 we have seen movements in our mainstream denominations to accept the teaching that all religions worship the same god. This is an abomination to our one and only true God. The Bible tells us in the end times many will fall away from the true doctrine. There will be many false religions and false prophets or preachers.
After 9/11 Byron school district in California required:
1. Chant praise to “Allah”
2. Pray “in the name of Allah.”
3. Stage their own jihad
4. Dress up as Muslims and choose new Muslim names.
In Hobbs we had two schools that allowed a local Islamic woman talk to our children concerning the Islamic faith and what the Koran means. They would not allow a Christian Pastor to come in to tell about the Christian faith and what the Bible means.
God blessed our forefathers with a Christian Nation. We have turned it into a Nation that does not honor God anymore.
Signs of the End Times:
Should any of this surprise us? The Bible has a lot to say about the end times. Let’s look at just a few of the prophecies.
Dan 12:4
4 But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge."
(NIV)
Daniel is telling us that in the end times, there will be a thirst for knowledge and that knowledge will greatly increase. From the Garden of Eden to the 19th century men walked or rode horses. During the last hundred years, man has invented the automobile, the jet plane and the space shuttle. We now can travel from New York to Paris in less time than it took Jesus to travel from Galilee to Jerusalem. We can send an email around the world in matters of seconds, just a few years ago it would take days to send a letter to a friend. With the invention of the TV in the last 50 years and the invention of satellites in the last 30 years we can see events from all over the world as they are actually happening. Compare the increase of knowledge of the last 50 years to that of the last 6000 years and you will see no comparison.
Jesus gave us other indications of His return.
Matt 24:6-8
6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.
8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
(NIV)
There have always been wars, but they are becoming more frequent with greater intensity. Ladies, you understand what Christ meant by birth pains. The closer you get to the time for the appearing of your new born baby, the greater the pain becomes with increasing frequency. So it will be with the coming of our Lord. Wars will become more frequent with a greater threat of destruction. Christ also said that there would be an increase in famines. Thousands children in third world countries are dying of starvation and diseases every day. Luke also wrote that there would be an increase in pestilence or diseases. Look at the HIV AIDS crisis. Here is a disease of just recent times for which we cannot find a cure. A disease that came about because of homosexual sex which God condemns. Just recently look at the West Nile Virus being carried by mosquitoes. Again look at the recent outbreak of the SARS virus.
What about earthquakes and natural disasters?
There were 253 earthquakes recorded in the 16th century. There were 378 in the 17th century. There were 640 earthquakes in the 18th century. There were 2119 earthquakes in the 19th century. Many would explain this away by not having the technology to detect earthquakes until the 20th century. But the number of recorded earthquakes recorded has risen from 2.588 in 1983 to 4,084 in 1992.
Just this year we have seen over 270 killer tornadoes occur in just 2 days.
It seems to me that the birth pains are becoming more frequent.
Let’s read 2 Tim 3:1-5.
1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good,
4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.
(NIV)
Doesn’t this describe the world, our nation, our community, our homes and our church today? I don’t have time to go into each topic, but this passage is pretty much self-explanatory. We put everything in our lives before God. We attend Church if there isn’t anything better to do or if there is going to be a lunch after the service. We will give our tithes to God, if we have any money left after buying that new car and of course buying that lottery ticket. If it is opening day of hunting season, we have to skip church that day and what about the NBA playoff, the World Series, or the NASCAR race that is on TV Sunday morning. With all that is going in my life I just don’t have time to go to church, but I will on Easter Sunday or Christmas, if I am not too tired. Is God really first in our lives? Is Christ really the Lord of lives? Do we love God more than our pleasures?
In Isaiah chapter 66 it tells us that a nation will be reborn in just a day. When the Romans attacked Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and destroyed the Temple, the Jewish people were scattered throughout the entire world. On May 15, 1948 the United Nations announced that they have formally recognized the state of Israel. Thus the nation of Israel was reborn in a day just as Isaiah had predicted thousands of years later. This had to happen before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Today we see thousands of Jews returning to their promised land. This too has to happen before the return of Christ as prophesied by Jeremiah in chapter 23.
Are we living our lives looking forward to the promise return of our Lord? Are we excited knowing that we will spend eternity in Heaven with Christ? We should be if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior. As Christians we have a command to go out and preach the good news to everyone. We are to witness to the lost. We are to love everyone. Are you concern about others around you? Have you told them about Jesus Christ? I believe we are near the time of Christ return. Are you ready? Whether He comes today or a hundred years from now, we are to live our lives as if He were coming in the next few minutes. If He had come yesterday, what would Jesus have found you doing?
Invitation:
