Saving The Nation (America)

I want to start my message with an Introduction from the book of Daniel. But, then I want to quickly move on to Solomons discussion with God.

It’s hard for anyone to talk about the “coming kingdom of heaven” and not discuss Daniel. It’s a prophetic book that goes into detail of what the coming future days will look like.

Daniel’s heart broke for the generations of people who had turned away from God. Just as many of our hearts break with the condition of our nation, America.

Keep in mind, this prayer is after Daniel had been captured, tortured, thrown into a lion’s den, experienced difficult-to-interpret dreams, and was weighed down by the sin around him.

But first, Daniel repents of everything he knows to repent of:

“So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and petitions, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” (Daniel 9:3).

Daniel mourned his sin. For any Christian, this is key! He longed for repentance. He wanted to be made right with God, but not only that, he also mourned and repented on behalf of his people, friends, family nation and—people near and far away.

He continues in Daniel 9:4–6:

“I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: Ah, Lord—the great and awe-inspiring God who keeps his gracious covenant with those who love him and keep his commands—we have sinned, done wrong, acted wickedly, rebelled, and turned away from your commands and ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, leaders, ancestors, and all the people of the land.”

(speak to Daniel’s Prayer)

I’m going to leave Daniel now and move to 2 Chronicles chapter 7.

Have you ever heard the saying, “As the family goes, so goes the church; And as the church goes, so goes the nation.” ???

My message this morning is this… The healing of the nation will begin with the repentance of the church. The church is falling into the world.

God’s Word is being watered down, and tossed aside. Thankfully not in this church, but every church needs to improve.

It’s sad to say that the Bible has lost its influence. Most Christians don’t even carry a bible to church anymore. Our nation’s churches need to once more become Scripture-Driven churches. (elaborate)

In Nehemiah chapter 9 we see that God’s people had “cast Your Word behind our backs.”

The Bible has lost its influence in America because the Bible is losing its influence in the church.

It happened long before Madalyn Murray went to court to remove prayer and Bible reading from schools. It began long before the Supreme court ruled that killing her unborn child is a mother’s constitutional right. It began long before our government began passing laws that make Christian Apologetics a hate crime. It began long before government gave legal protection to Sodomy. And soon pedophilia and gender swaps. (share)

The answer/problem is not in denominations that lost their way. The answer/problem is not in church leadership, or wayward parishioners.

The answer to our national problems is in 2 Chronicles Chapter 7.

In today’s message for the New Year, I want to look at one of the most misunderstood prayers in scripture- that has not only a promise but comes with it, a conditional warning.

Understanding this prayer, which is actually somewhat of a discussion between Solomon and God,… takes knowledge of the culture and the history, of the nation Israel and the context of the scripture.

The key to understanding most scripture is context, which is determining the meaning of the passage, the circumstance in which it occurred and the texture, meaning, what connects it together.

Understanding today’s lesson takes looking at the immediate context in light of previous events. So, lets turn in our Bibles to 2 Chronicles chapter 7.

(quick review)

2Chr7:12 – In other words, God is moving in! And since He will be living there He has some ground rules.

2Chr7:13 – God begins to explain what can happen to a sinful nation… No rain, ruined crops, pandemics and disease.

This warning was God reminding Solomon of the Covenant He made with the Nation Israel back in Deuteronomy 28. (explain)

This covenant was God promising to take care of Israel as long as they Obeyed Him. This covenant laid out Blessings for Obedience and Curses for Disobedience. (explain)

7:14 – Here we find the answer to every problem for Israel. This is the remedy; the missing puzzle piece. So let’s break this verse down. But first we need to be on the same page. There are two issues to discover first.

1. We need to realize that the United States of America does NOT have the same covenant relationship with God that ancient Israel enjoyed. This contract was exclusive to Israel. Notice: If MY People, called by My name…