2 Peter 2:1-3 A Nation
Deceived
Intro: In our study last time we noted
the Characteristics of False teachers w/ in the Church – 4 things
A)1st
Subtly bring in Destructive Heresies v.1 – Secret Subtle
1)
2nd They Deny the Lord who bought them v.1
a)
Deny the Deity of Christ
– therefore He is not Lord
b)
Deny His atoning work – Not the way to
Salvation
B)
3rd v. 2 They are
Motivated by Sensual Pleasures – destructive ways Which is one of the reasons
they deny the Lord -
1) If
Jesus is not who He claimed to be – then there is no one to answer to & I
can live the way that I want to live – Live to Please
my self
C) Which leads to the Next Characteristic – Driven by Covetousness v.3
1) If I am living to please
myself – If God is not on the throne then self is on the throne – therefore
what is best for me is BEST
E) And when the Word gets laid ASIDE – LOSE LIVING IS THE RESULT
1) compromise
& Carnality invade the Church
Now here is the thing that I want us to discuss this morning
– What is true of a Church is equally true of a Nation / God is laid aside
A)Quote from MLJ – Preaching in England in 1947 – describing what happened to the church & the Country – when Philosophy or Human ideas replaced- Revelation – the word of God
Here is the Church hesitant, doubtful, seemingly uncertain
of her own word & message, afraid & impotent as she faces this world
impotent in the sense of having no message of condemnation & no call to repentance
& return to God
Contrast our position today w/ that of our fathers just 60
or 70 yrs ago. You will find that the
whole life of this country was different. Christianity & religion were in a
sense popular – men & women gathered together in the house of God & Christian
teaching influenced the whole life of the nation & even the life of the Parliaments
. The gospel of J.C. really did count & was respected even by those who
didn’t practice it. But no more – we live in a day where the masses have turned
their backs on the Word of God .
Result left the UK –
very dark & godless place to live
The Description he gave for the UK in 1947 would be an
accurate Description of the U.S. TODAY –
A)What happened there ? What is happening here?
B) Psa. 11:3 If the foundations are REMOVED -What can the righteous do?
C) The U.S. is a NATION ADRIFT
Patrick Henry
one of this nations founding fathers – issued this warning "Whether this [new government] will prove a blessing or
a curse will depend upon the use our people make of the blessings which a
gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they are wise, they will be great and
happy. If they are of a contrary character, they will be miserable. [Prov.
14:34]. Righteousness
exalts a nation, But sin is a reproach to any people. Whoever thou art, remember this, and in thy sphere practice
virtue thyself and encourage it in others."
What Patrick Henry said there was Prophetic – of what has
happened to our nation – Laid aside the word of God – result we are miserable
A)We
are over 5 Trillion dollars in debt /
that amount increases an average of 123 million dollars a day
B) We spend more dollars per student than any
nation in the world / but as many as 90 Mill. or over ½ the adult Pop. Doesn’t
have basic reading skills
C) We are living in
a country where Our murder rate is 9 times higher than England
1) Where your chances of being murdered are 1 in 10,000 / where as 40 yrs
ago / 1 in 20,000 – murder rate has
doubled in the last 40 yrs
D)
In 1960 there were 9,110 reported rape
cases / 1998 over 93,000
Your chances of being raped in U.S.
are 15 times that of England
40 yrs ago – 35 Americans were victims of a violent crime each hr. /
today 200 Americans are victims of violent crime every hr.
A)40
yrs ago Violent crime made up 16.1% of
the crimes committed in the U.S. / today 40yrs later/ violent crime makes up 75.8% of crimes committed
B)
40 yrs ago – only 5.3% of the births in America were Illegitimate . Today 40yrs
later the # is 26.2 % -
1) and that doesn’t take into account the thousands of
babies that are
aborted every day in the U.S.
C) America used to lead the world in every Positive
arena / Today we are still a world
leader but in a different sense
1)# 4 in Divorce recent time Mag./ # 1
Violent crime # 1 in Illegal drug use
#1 in Teenage Preg./ #1 in Abortion /
# 1 in Illiteracy of the modern countries
What has happened to America – that has brought us down so
low
During World War II, a general and his aide, a
lieutenant, were traveling from one base to another. They were forced to travel
with civilians aboard a passenger train. They found their compartment where two
other folks were already seated--an attractive young lady and her grandmother.
For most of the trip, they conversed freely.
The train entered
a long and rather dark tunnel. Once inside the tunnel, the passengers in this
particular car heard two distinct sounds--the first was the smack of a kiss;
the second was the loud sound of a slap.
Now, although these four people were in the same
compartment aboard the passenger train, they came to four differing
perspectives. The young lady
thought how glad she was that the young lieutenant got up the courage to kiss
her, but she was somewhat disappointed at her grandmother for slapping him for
doing it;
the general thought to himself how proud he was of
his young lieutenant for being enterprising enough to find this opportunity to
kiss the attractive young lady but was flabbergasted that she slapped him
instead of the lieutenant;
the grandmother was flabbergasted to think
that the young lieutenant would have the gall to kiss her granddaughter, but
was proud of her granddaughter for slapping him for doing it;
and the young lieutenant was trying to hold back the
laughter, for he found the perfect opportunity to
kiss an attractive young girl and slap his superior officer all at the same
time!
Well 40 yrs ago America was subtly yet aggressively slapped
in the face & we have been trying to figure out what happened ever sense
A)Destructive Heresies have subtly but aggressively infiltrated our culture over the last 40 yrs – Consider a few
B) First – because of our Prosperity – we forgot to Pray
1) That became the first step toward pushing God out of
our Lives and failing to acknowledge
our dependency upon him – failed to pray
1
Tim .21Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2for kings
and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in
all godliness and reverence. 3For this is good and acceptable in the
sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all men to be saved and to
come to the knowledge of the truth.
C) We are commissioned by the Lord to pray for our Country / Leaders / our
Govt.
D)We became so comfortable that we began to lose sight of the Lord / the REASON FOR OUR STRENGTH
1) And Satan duped us into thinking – we don’t need to pray
That open the door for a 2nd Subtle Delusion to
come in A teaching that says our Founding Fathers were Deist & Atheist
A)Atheist is some one who doesn’t believe in God / a Deist is some one who believes that God created us but then left us on our own
B)
God does not interfere w/
the affairs of man !!
C)
Is that true – History doesn’t support such
claims – In fact history tells us that 52 of the 55 signers of the Declaration of Ind. Were orthodox Believers in J.C.
1) They weren’t just religious people – but they were
believers in J.C.
D)
That explains why there are scriptures on most of the monuments in Washington
D.C. such as
1) the 10 Comm. are inscribed in the marble of the U.S. Supreme Court,
E) There is a beautiful stained
glass window in the U.S. Capitol depicting President
George Washington kneeling in prayer,
1) and
that at the top of the Washington Monument - the highest point in the nation's
capital is embedded a plaque which boldly proclaims in Latin, "Praise Be Unto God."
Because our founding fathers were believers & Lovers of J.C. they placed scriptures, Christian pictures & Plaques in our nations capital
The same way that we do in our Home
Patrick Henry had this to say about his faith
"I wish I
could leave you my most cherished possession--my faith in Jesus
Christ. For with Him you have everything; without
Him you have nothing at all."
George Washington’s Diary “let my heart gracious God, be so affected with your glory and
majesty that I may fulfill these weighty duties which you require of me. Again
I have called on you for pardon and forgiveness of sins and for the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ offered on the cross for me. You gave your son to me and have
given me assurance of salvation”
That doesn’t sound like Atheist or a Deist to me !!!!
Lets Consider the
opinions of some of our founding fathers & our nations early leaders on
certain subjects
A) 1st the Role of the Bible in Govt.
The
Bible must be considered as the great source of all the truth by which men are
to be guided in government as well as in all social transactions....
The
moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the
basis of all our civil constitutions and laws....
All
the miseries and evils which men suffer from, vice, crime, ambition, injustice,
oppression, slavery, and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the
precepts contained in the Bible....
John
Adams Entered
into his diary February 22, 1756
"Suppose a nation in some distant region
should take the Bible for their only law book, and every member should regulate
his conduct by the precepts there contained ! Every member would be obliged in
conscience to temperance, frugality and industry: to justice, kindness and
charity towards his fellow men: and to piety, love and reverence toward
Almighty God....What a Utopia, what a Paradise would this region be."
Pt. When the Bible is believed & obeyed it Changes lives
Political Science Professors at the Univ. of Houston were considering why the American Constitution
has been able to stand the test of time
A)Why hasn’t it gone thru massive revisions in 200yrs why is it so short and what possessed those men to produce such an incredible Document
B) These Professors spent 10 yrs cataloging 15,000 writings of the
founding fathers – They found that the 3 most quoted individuals were
1) Montesquieu / Blackstone/ and John Locke
C)
However they also discovered that the Bible was quoted 4
times more than Montesquieu / 12 times
more than Blackstone / 16 times….Locke
1) They also discovered that 34%
of the founding fathers quotations were direct word for word out of the
Bible
D) And that another
60% of their quotes they were quoting men who were quoting the Bible
1) So a total of 94% of the founding fathers quotes were directly from the Bible – Doesn’t sound like Atheist & Deist to me
2nd Role of Prayer In Govt.
Benjamin
Franklin Address at the Constitutional Convention
Thursday June 28, 1787
"I have lived, a long time, and the longer I
live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth -- that God Governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without
His aid?
We have been assured, in the Sacred Writings, that
"except the Lord build the House, they labor in vain that build it."
I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without
His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no
better than the builders of Babel: We shall be
divided by our partial local interests; our projects will be
confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to
future ages.
I therefore beg leave to
move -- that henceforth prayers
imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be
held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to officiate in that
service."
A)Franklins advice – We need to begin everyday w/ Prayer – Unless the Lord builds the nation we are laboring in Vain
3rd The Success of the nation
Samuel
Adams
The rights of the colonists as Christians...may be
best understood by reading and carefully studying the institutes of the Great
Law Giver and Head of the Christian Church, which are to be found clearly
written in the New Test. "
Benjamin Franklin, 1778 "Whoever shall introduce into public affairs
the principles of primitive Christianity will change the face of the
world."
President
John Adams
"The highest story of
the American Revolution is this: it connected in one indissoluble bond the
principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
4th Choosing Leaders
"God intends
you to choose for rulers just men who will rule in the fear of God... If the
citizens neglect their duty and place unprincipled men in office, the
government will soon be corrupt."
First Lady Abigail Adams wife of John Adams
"...a true American Patriot must be a religious man...He who neglects
his duty to his maker, may well be expected to be deficient and insincere in
his duty towards the public."
- U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, John Jay
GOD has given to our people the choice of
their rulers and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of a
Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."
That doesn’t sound like a bunch of Atheist & Deist does
it ?
A)Even as late as 1954 America’s Christian Heritage was still common among our nations leadership
B)
Supreme court Justice Earl Warren told Time Mag. Feb 1954 I believe no one
can read the history of our country w/out realizing that the Bible & the
Spirit of the Savior have from the beginning been our guiding Genius.
I believe the entire Bill of rights came into being because of the
knowledge that our forefathers had of the bible & their belief in it.
C)
Such words by a Supreme court Justice today would be considered politically incorrect
What has happened : For the past 41 yrs our history books have been being
re-written to give a secularized version of American history
A)A
version of American History - that leaves out our Christian heritage /
B)
Subtle Heresies (a perversion of the truth) – that has led our nation down a road that
seeks to push God out of the picture
1) A Deception that sends out this message – We
achieved greatness on our own !!!
3rd Subtle Deception is the idea of the
separation of Church & State
A)The
way this gets interpreted today is that the Church or Christianity would not
have any say in the matters of the state
B)
But the State can have a certain say in the affairs of
the Church
1) So that a Virginia
court would declare that it was unconstitutional for a Church to sing
Christmas Carols in a public park
C)
Is that what our founding fathers had in mind
when they wrote the Constitution
1) The Fact of the matter is few realize this - but the phrase the
separation of Church & state is not even in the Constitution
Although 67% of
Americans believe that it is !!!!
D)
The Phrase didn’t even make it into the World Book Encyclopedia. Until 1963
1) Does that mean that it took world
book 193yrs to figure out what the founding fathers said ? No
E)
Actually it took 193yrs for liberals to reinterpret what the founding fathers
actually said
The founding fathers sole intention was to prevent a
national Church like the one they saw in England
A)They did not establish a wall
of separation between Church & state .
B)
If that was there intent why did the first U.S.
Congress appoint Chaplains for the armed forces
1) why did they spend govt.
money to support missionaries sent to minister to the American Indians
C)
Why did they decide that George Washington’s Inauguration would culminate in a Church service held at St. Paul’s
Chapel
Why then did Congress on the very
day that it approved the first Amendment call upon Pres. Wash. To Proclaim a
national day Thanksgiving & Prayer
Patrick Henry speaking at
The Constitutional Convention ( Give liberty ..death)
"It cannot be
emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by
religionists but by Christians, not on religion but on the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. We shall not fight alone. God presides over the destinies of
nations." The Battle is not tot
the strong alone . Is life so dear, or peace so sweet , as to be purchased at
the price of chains and slavery Forbid it Almighty God ! Give me liberty or
give me Death
But in 1947 The Supreme court Deviated
from all previous court traditions & believes & established a wall of
separation between Church & state
A)The
Result : 1962 it removed prayer from Public
1963
removed bible reading from schools – Stating it was Psychologically harmful to
the children
1965 – it forbade
students to pray out loud at school
1967
it ruled that a nursery rhyme was unconstitutional
because it might cause some one to think about God
1980 it removed the 10 commandments from the school walls because they might cause students to venerate &
obey them
So
today An estimated 270,000 guns are carried to school each day.
1992 The Supreme banned prayer at school Graduations
A)One
kids speech – don’t mention God –
Sneezed – whole class stood & Yell God Bless You !!!!
B)
Recently the supreme court ordered a teacher in Denver to remove the Bible from
his desktop
1) He could have the Koran / playboy – but not the
Bible
C)
Was that the founding fathers intent for The Supreme Court ?
1) No the Supreme Court was set up to Protect the
constitution not re-
event it -
But that is exactly what has happened
4th Subtle Deception that has entered into our
Society came from pastors and the Heads of religious Institutions
A)All
the major schools Harvard Princeton Yale started as Christian colleges
B) Schools that were founded on the Basis of a belief in God & His
Word
1) Presidents & Pastors who began to doubt the
Inerrancy of the Scriptures
C)
Ravi Zach. The Great Amputation – we
cut ourselves off from our life source –
1)Doubt the very Word from which 94% of the founding fathers Inspiration
& Ideas for their writings was derived from
D)
The result opened the door for Relativism – Postmodern Mind set
1) There are No Absolutes / there is no definitive
truth – everything is open for question
E)
66% of the population
believes that absolute truth cannot be known.
Woodrow
Wilson, 1911
Pre-Presidential campaign speech
"America was
born a Christian nation. America was born to exemplify that devotion to the
elements of righteousness which are derived from the revelations of Holy
Scriptures. Ladies and gentlemen, I have a very simple thing to ask of you. I
ask of every man and woman in this audience that from this night on they will
realize that part of the destiny of America lies in their daily perusal of this great book of revelations.
That if they would see America free and pure
they will make their own spirits free and pure by this baptism of the Holy
Scripture."
America began as a nation that put God First – that
worshipped God
For 190 yrs of our History we Worshipped God / He was center
A)But
46 Yrs ago our nation began to deify man &
to devalue God
B)The
American revolution was about – our fore fathers desire to establish a nation
that was based upon the bible
1) There is a 2nd revolution
afloat that celebrates independence from God
C)God
has been dethroned from the American Political & educational systems / Man
& secular reason has been enthroned – Chaos Reigns
40yrs ago poll taken 53% of American teens had never Kissed /
57% had never made out / 92% were still virgins
A)TODAY
-By the time they graduate from high school, 70% out of the girls and
80% of the boys will have had sexual intercourse
B)
More than one million teenage girls in the U.S. get pregnant every year.
1)
There are Over 2.5 million new adolescent cases
of sexually transmitted diseases occur every year.
C)
38% of all eighth graders have experimented with illicit drugs. Over 80% of
today's graduating seniors will have used alcohol,
1) 42% will have used marijuana, and 52% will
have used illicit drugs.
D)
Over 3,000 children and teens a day see their parents' marriage end in divorce
1) The pain of growing up in today's world has left many kids hopeless.
E)Suicide
rates among American high school students have
quadrupled in the last four decades.
1)
Sadly, 10% of adolescent boys and 18% of adolescent girls have made some
attempt to take their own life.
We have laid aside the truth & have become a nation
driven by sensual Pleasures – Covetousness – Desire to ONLY PLEASE SELF
In the news recently Members of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, GLSEN, discussed plans to introduce positive discussions about homosexuality into elementary school classrooms -- including kindergarten -- during their annual conference Oct. 6-8 in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.
This year's conference theme, "Ending the Hate
Beginning in School," highlights the groups contention that teaching pro-homosexual lessons to young
schoolchildren is an appropriate way to combat "homophobia" and
"hatred" directed at homosexuals.
One workshop titled "Appreciating a Broader Canvas: Teachers were instructed on ways to incorporate pro-gay content into family studies for grades K-3 and into U.S. immigration history for grades 4-6.
The K-3 lesson plan advised educators to help
students "recognize diverse family constellations" by encouraging
discussion of individual family differences and similarities and by showing
photographs from a book entitled "Celebrating Families," which
includes "lesbian mothers/adopted
daughters."
attendees also received a handout
telling of ways to include pro-homosexual content in
geometry classes by using "known political symbols (a pink
triangle, a yellow star of David, a political flag, the purple teletubbie) to
study shapes.
While the geometry lesson is the
goal, the history and political information surrounding the shape is also
introduced."
Also discussed ways to “Come out of the Closet” in
classrooms –
A)Wearing certain jewelry / talking about trips they have taken w/ their partners etc.
B) Romans 1:18 -
C) Guys we are in Bad Shape as a Nation / Quest. Can We recover ? I don’t know but w/ God all things are possible
Can we & should we take steps in the right direction –
Yes where do we start
A)Repent – Acknowledge that as a Nation we have gone astray
Neh. ? Jeremiah – Lord we have sinned
B) Repent by start praying – if you have forgotten to pray – Start praying
C)
I’ll admit – I erred greatly in this area –
1) Hopeless why pray – Pray for the Lord to come back –
D) I so despised our current president – that in my heart I refused to pray for the man – that is wrong -
Teach the truth -
Light & the glory / from sea to shinning sea – Read it kids read it
Duet 4 – God commissions Moses & leaders to teach their Children History of
God’s work in their lives
Only take heed to yourself, and diligently
keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from
your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your
grandchildren,
Duet 6 7You shall teach them diligently to your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way,
when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8You shall bind them as a
sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You
shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Preach gospel-
A)Our
hope is not in a Politician / Political party / or some program – our Hope is
in A PERSON J.C.
B)The
only thing that can save a nation is for people in it to be born again
Change on the inside – that affect the
outside
Lastly Vote