“ONE NATION UNDER GOD”
Proverbs 14:34- I Timothy 2:1-2
INTRO. Throughout our lives we find ourselves many times being placed under certain precarious positions and circumstances but most importantly we find ourselves under certain people that brings us discomfort, displeasure and irritation.
ILLUSTRATION: “When you see a police car”-Whether we like it or not we are under the authority of those guys who ride around with the blue lights on their cars. It seems that we are under all kinds of people in our lives. Whether they be parents, bosses, our County and State officials, DMV offices, etc. You know it seems in this day in time everyone wants to be their own boss. People don’t want to be under anyone, they don’t want to be told what to do. They want the blessings, the privileges, and the benefits in life without any responsibility or accountability to anyone and many times especially God.
ILLUSTRATION: “BUY ME OUT”
As we come to yet another Memorial Day service to honor not only our men and woman who has served this country and many who are now serving our country but we must come to honor and worship the one and only God of this country.
This morning with your permission I would like to use a few inserts from a powerful message I heard from Dr Larry Thompson of FBC Fort Laurdale Florida and founder of watchman ministries.
As we come to this special service have you ever considered one of the greatest treasures we have a nation is the flag that we just pledge our allegiance to a moment ago and what it symbolizes. It was June 14, 1777 that Congress voted to design the American flag and then they introduced it to the American public on September 3, 1777. The colors were chosen with a great deal of care and thought.
I wonder how many of us really know what these colors of our flag represent. The white according to our founding fathers is and I quote “to signify the purity and the innocence of Americans.” The red is symbolic for the hardness, the baler, and the resolve of the people of this country and the blue represents the vigilance, the perseverance and the justice. There is something just perhaps you did not know. Are you aware that we did not have a formal pledge of our allegiance to the flag until a hundred or more years later. As a matter of fact it was over hundred years later when a man by the name of Frances Belema. He was the editor of a youth magazine by the name of “the youth companion”. He first introduced the pledge in 1954, almost two hundred years later that the pledge read as it now reads today “I pledge allegiance to the flag...” It is almost impossible for me to comprehend and believe that from 1954 in just a little over one decade later after we place under God in our pledge that we begin do ever thing we possible could to remove the presence of God and the influence of God from this nation. It began when the Supreme Court ruled that it is no longer admissible to have prayer and Bible study in our public schools. That decision was followed by another four years later in which the Supreme Court ruled that the Ten Commandments, the moral laws of man, could no longer be displayed in public School or any government building. We went from there to a further ruling that began to draw the circle a little wider that said that now students are no longer allowed to pray at public graduation or public athletic events. It is amazing to me as we take a look at where we have gone that we fail to understand that history and society has proved that nations and people that place themselves above God or divorce themselves from God’s presence and come to a place where they believe they are self sufficient loose all moral restraint. They force themselves into a spiritual and social confusion until ultimately there is a breakdown and a devastation and ultimate destruction of the very fiber of the nation in which they live.
Has it happened here? If you don’t want to do something don’t. If it feels good do it. If you don’t want it or if it is a nuisance at this time just kill it. If you can’t get along with it divorce it. If you can’t face it go ahead and drink it or drug it and the result in America, is crime and financial bondage and emotional dysfunctions, dysfunctional families and a spiritually and morally sick nation. How did we get to that place?
We got to that place when we as Americans who put our hands over our hearts and say I pledge, I am a part of one nation under God, literally said we don’t need you any more. AS a result of that we no longer have even that in which we pledge.
You see it was King Solomon who himself was a brilliant leader in Government and at one time certainly new of the glory of God said this one verse that we read earlier.
Proverbs 14:34. “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”
I believe through this passage that he is reminding us of the call of a reputation. Look at the verse he says “Righteous exalts a nation”
We got to remember that a reputation is not only important in the eyes of a nation a reputation is important in the eyes of God. Dr Thompson believes as I believe a nation builds its reputation in two ways. Watch this.
I. THE FIRST WAY A NATION BUILDS ITS REPUTATION IS WHEN ITS LEADERS ARE ACCOUNTABILE.
A. Listen to what Paul said to timothy.
1. I Timothy 2:1-2 “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.
2. Now we know the first part of this passage but hadn’t paid much attention to the second part.
3. Look at it “That they may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”
B. I believe this applies to all leaders.
1. I believe it applies to national political leaders, to state and local leaders, I believe it applies to leaders in churches as well it applies to leaders in homes.
2. If you are a leader there are four things you are accountable for that builds the reputation of every organization, every church, every family, and every country that you may lead.
3. Paul instructs Timothy as well as you and me in these important traits.
C. A leader is responsible for providing tranquility.
1. Paul said in I Timothy 2:2 “to pray that the leaders will lead in peace.”
2. Lead a tranquil and peaceful life.
3. We as Christians know that real and lasting peace will only be a result of when the prince of peace returns and reigns but a leader is to seek by deed and life, an example to seek peace.
4. A leader must constantly seek to maintain and promote peace in this nation and promote harmony in the mists of all the diversity we enjoy.
5. This morning I ask you do you truly know the prince of peace?
6. Each of us will be held accountable for not only providing tranquility for those around us but we will be held accountable to whether we truly know Jesus as our savor, peace giver.
7. Come to Jesus this morning to the prince of peace and allow him to bring peace that passes all understanding even in the mist of a troubling world.
8 As we allow Christ to bring us peace we will be more able to bring peace to those around us.
D. A leader is also responsible for security.
1. Paul writes to Timothy in I Timothy 2:2 and says be sure they are leading not only in a peaceful life but a quiet life.
2. The greatest need of every leader is to build and maintain security for the people in which they lead.
3. We as leaders must provide security for our families and the ones that are following us in life.
E. A leader is responsible in the area of morality.
1. That a leader will lead a life of Godliness.
2. Paul admonishes Timothy in Verse 2 of our passage that they may lead a life in “all godliness”
3. Here in is the secret of successful leadership.
4. You cannot give me peace and quiet, tranquility and security if you yourself are going to separate yourself from the author, the one who gave you life.
5. There must be accountability of morality.
6. Any leader who disregards God’s law and leadership in their life is not fit to lead anybody.
7. It does not matter whether it is in the white house or in the church house, it doesn’t matter whether it is in the state government or in your own house.
8. If you are going to lead you are accountable for morality.
F. The fourth area of biblical accountability in which you wbuild your reputation is integrity; a leader is responsible in the area of integrity.
1. Look at what Paul tells Timothy in Verse 2 “let them lead in godliness and Holiness.”
2. This is integrity.
F. So the lord says a nation, a church, a home builds its reputation when leaders are accountable.
II. Secondly a nation builds its reputation when the people are responsible.
A. You see we have a responsibility.
B. It’s not enough for us to tell our leaders that they are not accountable because the word says that we have a reasonability to pray for them.
1. Paul says to Timothy in I Timothy 2:1 “I urge you first that requests and prayer and intersession and thanksgiving be made for all people, for kings and all those in authority.”
2. You are saying that I got to pray some of these men and women.
3. You are saying that I don’t like anything that they are doing and I got to pray for them?
4. That is what the word says, pray for them, pray that they would be accountable, pray that God would change their heart that they would understand that they hold the reputation of the organization or the government, the home in which they lead and pray that they would repent.
5. You say what if they don’t repent, you keep praying.
6. You ask What am I suppose to pray.?
ILLUSTRATION: “PRAY PSALM 109:8”
C. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom but I want you hear this.
1. Solomon said in Proverbs 14:34 “Righteous exalts a nation but Sin is a grace to any people.”
2. When you retrace the history of all nations you will find that there is a scarlet thread that runs through them all.
D. A great northwestern professor by the name of Dr. Arnold Tornembee said in his study of history he noticed something interesting about the spiritual fiber of a nation and he said when ever a nation looses three areas of spiritual fiber then they decline and crumble a short time there after. These are warning signs.
1. When a nation fails to be depend on God.
a. Psalm 33:12 says “blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord for the people are his inheritance.”
b. If a nation, a family a people gets to the place where they say they no longer need God they no longer depend on him they are in trouble.
2. Do you realize that ever time there has been a crisis in this nation a president has gone before the American public and called them to a time of prayer and fasting. Why?
3. Because we recognize our dependence upon God.
4. Tornembee says that when dependence on God is gone look for the second area and that is obedience to God.”
5. When a nation begins to act as if God is not present then they have lost not only their dependence on God but have lost certainly their desire to obey God.
6. We become exactly like nation Israel in the book of Judges when the word says in Judges 17:6 “but every man did that which was right in his own eyes”
7. Understand that if we are not dependent on God and don’t obey God then what happens? We become our own God.
8. So what ever I want to do that’s alright because I am my own God, whatever you want to do that is alright because you are your own God.
9. We become exactly like scripture where every man does right in his own eyes and we all say its all fine and we are in trouble.
E. If we loose those first two, dependence on God and obedience of God Torenbee says that there is only one left.
1. That is when a nation, a person loose its desire to repent of sin, then everything begins to crumble.
2. According to Dr Larry Thompson we have already passed the first two, we only have the third one left.
3. We have passed dependence and we have passed obedience and the only thing we have left, is to see whether we are going to admit our sin and repent and turn to God and if we don’t make so mistake about our nation we will perish.
F. There is some good news here.
1. You see the Bible is full of examples of nations and individuals that changed right before judgment came.
2. There was a city by the name of Nineveh that was scheduled for destruction God said he was going to destroy it because of their wickedness and God gave them one more chance.
3. A man of God stood in the mists of Nineveh and preached the word of God.
4. You know what the people did? They were at this third area and in the last hour they said we have sinned and they repented and God spared them and the nation flourished.
CONCLUSION:
A man that goes out to change his world is an optimist but a man that goes out to change his world without first changing himself is a fool.
ILLUSTRATION
“BUY ME OUT”
A very successful businessman had a meeting with his new son-in-law.
"I love my daughter, and now I welcome you into the family," he said. "To show you how much we care for you, I’m making you a 50-50 partner in my business. All you have to do is go to the factory every day and learn the operations."
The son-in-law interrupted, "I hate factories. I can’t stand the noise."
"I see," replied the father-in-law. "Well then, you’ll work in the office and take charge of some of the operations."
"I hate office work," said the son-on-law. "I can’t stand being stuck behind a desk all day."
"Wait a minute," said the father-in-law. "I just made you half-owner of a moneymaking organization, but you don’t like factories and won’t work in an office. What am I going to do with you?"
"Easy," said the young man. "Buy me out!"
When the boss tells a joke and you laugh, it doesn’t prove you have a sense of humor, it proves that you have sense
ILLUSTRATION
“PRAY PSALM 109:8”
I heard about a woman that when she found a leader that won’t repent and wont change she prays Psalm 109 8 May his days be few; may another take his place of leadership. For the first time some of you started taking notes, I got to write that down.
