(June 2012 Edit)
America is not a nation like
Israel; a nation founded as a Theocracy. However, America is a nation founded
on Judeo-Christian values. To the degree America adheres to those values she is
a Christian nation. She is a free nation because she was founded upon the
values and principles of freedom and “inalienable rights.” This is true even
though America embraces “pluralism.” She embraces the individual’s right to
freely choose any particular or no belief at all.
America was founded upon and has
received great Light, visa vie the Holy Scriptures. That Light has brought
about great freedom and liberty. So long as that Light burns brightly those
freedoms and liberties remain. But when that Light grows dim, darkness will
fall on freedom and liberty. How is the Light sustained? It is sustained first
by the
Reflectors of the Light, by
those who are the followers of Jehovah God and who revere God’s Holy Word. Second,
it is sustained by the
Respecters of
the Light, be they followers of God or not. They respect the Judeo-Christian
values and principles of God’s Word upon which America, our Republic, was
founded.
This may be seen in the following
statement by William Henry Harrison,
U.S. President (1841-1841) in his Inaugural Address (March 4, 1841):
“I deem the present occasion sufficiently important and solemn to justify
me in expressing to my fellow-citizens a profound reverence for the Christian
religion and a thorough conviction that sound morals, religious liberty, and a
just sense of religious responsibility are essentially connected with all true
and lasting happiness; and to that good Being who has blessed us by the gifts
of civil and religious freedom, who watched over and prospered the labors of
our fathers and has hitherto preserved to us institutions far exceeding in
excellence those of any other people, let us unity in fervently commending
every interest of our beloved country in all future time.”
The Reflectors and the Respecters
of God form an alliance affecting America’s freedom and liberty. They both
enjoy a great privilege and a great responsibility. They work and survive in a
culture of liberty by honoring the Judeo-Christian values and principles that
undergird America. They are inseparable in many ways. But the survival of
America as a free nation depends upon their mutual dependence upon the God of
freedom and “inalienable rights.”
Is America undergoing judgment?
Yes, America is undergoing judgment. What does that mean? Richard Owen Roberts,
foremost authority on revival in our world explains how God uses judgment. In his little booklet, The Solemn Assembly,
he writes, “While some judgments are immediate and final, resulting in deaths
among the wicked; others are gracious and remedial, resulting in brokenness,
prayer, repentance and extraordinary seeking of God’s face.” I believe
America’s judgment at this point in time is “remedial” in nature. There is
still time for America to act, to truly repent of her neglect of God and turn
to Him NOW, before a “final” judgment comes, before she goes past the point of
no return. But America and God are waiting on the Church.
Is the church (Reflectors of the Light) complicit in the judgment on America? Yes.
The church is complicit because she alone is responsible for keeping the Light
of the Gospel brightly shining. If the Light grows dim it can only be because
the church has lost or is losing her influence and status as a reflection of
the Light.
Henry Blackaby stated in the Cedars
Bible Conference of 2010, “The healing of America is waiting on God’s
people. The forgiveness of God’s people [for willful sin and disobedience] will
determine the healing of America.” He said of the terrorist attacks of
9/11, “This was a warning to God’s people [the church].” He said the
same of hurricane Katrina and the economic disasters of 2008-2010. I would
submit that the fires, drought, floods, civil unrest, increase in terrorism worldwide and the murder of innocent people and police officers since then should also be
viewed as a wake up call to the Church. These disasters coincide with Roberts’
statements above about “remedial judgment.” Blackaby said that God’s people
must do some things: Humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and TURN from THEIR
WICKED WAYS. “If you are NOT seeing the manifest presence of God in your life
then there ARE wicked ways [in your life for which you must repent]." Roberts states that “remedial judgment” opens the door for brokenness,
prayer, repentance and the seeking of God’s face on the part of God people.
Today we find ourselves living in a
“post-Christian” culture. Why? Because both the Reflectors of God and the Respecters
of God have succumb to the peril of privilege. They have fallen asleep at the
wheel. They have taken for granted liberty and “inalienable rights.” When that
happens freedom and individual pursuit of happiness is forfeited.
What has gone wrong? With great
privilege comes great responsibility. Neither a Reflector nor a Respecter
of God is assured the mutual protection and favor of God when they no longer
reflect and no longer respect God. When reflecting and respecting turns inward it becomes apathy, complacency and neglect. The nation, the Republic, is in
trouble. Reflectors no longer
propagate the Light. Respecters no
longer revere the Light. Less Light turns to less toleration. Soon the Reflectors and the Respecters of God find themselves marginalized, on the outside
looking in. The Light is slowly snuffed out by shadows and darkness, the creeping
enemy of the Light. The result is the loss of freedom, liberty and “inalienable
rights.”
Not much has changed in 2,000
years. Consider the writings of Athanasius (297-373 A.D.) These words could
easily be said about our generation today.
“But men, foolish as
they are, thought little of the grace they had received, and turned away from
God. They defiled their own soul so completely that they not only lost their
apprehension of God, but invented for themselves other gods of various kinds.
They fashioned idols for themselves in place of the truth and reverenced things
that are not, rather than God Who is, as St. Paul says, ‘worshipping the
creature rather than the Creator.’
Moreover, and much
worse, they transferred the honor, which is due to God to material objects such
as wood and stone, and also to man. Indeed, so impious were they that they
worshipped evil spirits as gods in satisfaction of their lusts. They sacrificed
brute beasts and immolated men, as the just due of these deities, thereby
bringing themselves more and more under their insane control. Magic arts also
were taught among them, oracles in sundry places led men astray, and the cause
of everything in human life was traced to the stars, as though nothing existed
but that which could be seen. In a word, impiety and lawlessness were
everywhere, and neither God nr His Word was known.1
Reflectors become weaker and fewer. Respecters become weaker and fewer. A
new group emerges. They are the Renouncers.
Renouncers show zero tolerance for
Judeo-Christian values. They wish for and work for the removal of any mention
of God. They use only language that is “politically correct.” They would see
the Reflectors and Respecters completely silenced. While
those who reflect the Light and those who respect the Light continue in their
apathy and neglect the Renouncers
wage a full scale rejection of the Light, tolerance, and mutual dependence upon
God. We are in a battle for the soul of America. The church must awaken from
her slumber. John Hagee said, “America’s future is in the hands of God’s
children.” God is waiting for Christians in America to answer His wake-up
call and PRAY.
I close with the
thought-provoking words of Richard Owen Roberts: “That there has been a very
great increase of immorality and decrease of true biblical spirituality in
America in recent years is a fact beyond controversy…Is it because the devil is
more powerful…? No. It is because God has judged America with the remedial
judgment of the withdrawal of certain manifestations of his gracious presence
and mercy.” Roberts sounds an alarm to the church, “As soon as it becomes
evident that immorality is on the increase and spirituality is on the decline
the biblically sound and spiritually lively Church will not
foolishly blame the world but will immediately recognize its own COMPLICITY.
The Church must
first repent, for the righteous judgment was not against the world but against
the church (Pe 4:17-19).
Therefore, in times of spiritual declension and moral decadence, the great duty
of every Christian is both to discover those sins which have caused the
judgment and to put them away…”
Wake up Church and humbly seek God's face for the sake of the Kingdom and for the sake of this great nation.
1 Foster, Richard J. Devotional Classics. New York, NY:
Harper Collins Publishers, 1989. Athanasius was important in early church
history as he helped to steer the Church away from the heresy of Arianism –
belief that Jesus was merely a human being. He wrote extensively on the
incarnation and how God took on human form. He took part in the first council
of Nicea (325 A.D.). The portion Foster quotes above is taken from his primary
work, On The Incarnation.
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