Download One Nation Under God - 5

One Nation Under God - 5
America
is
standing face-to-face with tremendous problems.
Drugs, violence,
abortion, divorce, sexual assault, pornography and child abuse and abductions confront us on our
streets, in our places of work, in our schools and even in our homes. Materialism, egotism and
selfishness surround us. All of these forces affect our relationships with our neighbors, with our
family members and with ourselves. Anger, guilt and low self-esteem are our constant
companions.
But what can we do about these problems? What are the solutions? Actually, the question
should be, "What is the solution?" In spite of the many fruitless attempts being made at dealing
with these problems, there is a single solution for all. We must once again become "One
nation under God." We must return to the Bible.
While asserting that the government must sponsor pornographic filth in the name
of freedom of speech, the same people demand that the government disassociate itself from God and
the Bible in the name of freedom of religion, which is interpreted to mean, "freedom FROM religion."
How illogical this is. And, even more importantly, how foolish this is. The only hope for our
government is to draw closer to, and not farther from, God.
As we have already pointed out, the founders of our country stated clearly that this was
designed as a christian nation. By their own definition, this system of government can function no other
way.
(History bears out the fact that the freedoms we have enjoyed for 200 years cannot be
maintained any other way.
Look at the rest of the world. In an atheistic country only atheism is allowed. In a Muslim
nation only Islam is tolerated. Only in our christian country do we recognize the right of all
religions to exist, although we may not agree with any of them.)
What kind of country would this be if we all tried to follow the instructions found in the Bible?
"Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord," Psalm 33:12 promises.
"Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities," Paul instructs in Romans
13:1-7. "For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
"Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have
opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
"For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of
authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you
for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a
minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.
"Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for
conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting
themselves to this very thing.
"Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to
whom fear; honor to whom honor."
What would happen to our country if our own children heard from our own lips and learned
from our own examples a sense of respect for the government? Is it any wonder that our children have
no respect for authority if we demonstrate total disrespect for authority? Before we start making
excuses about today's government officials, we should remember that Paul's letter was written in
the days of Roman emperors such as Nero.
"First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be
made on behalf of all men," we read in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, "for kings and all who are in authority, in
order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity."
"Remind them to be subject to rulers," Paul instructs in Titus 3:1, "to be obedient, to be
ready for every good deed."
"Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution," 1 Peter 2:13-17 orders:
"whether to a king as the one in authority; or to governors as sent through him for the punishment of
evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
"For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish
men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of
God.
"Honor all men; love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king."
What kind of country would this be if we followed the Bible? It would be a country of
responsible citizens. You see, those who are so quick to shout, "Freedom of this," and "Freedom of
that," don't even understand that freedom without responsibility is anarchy; and anarchy is but
the shadow and the seed of tyranny.
What would happen in our relationships with each other if we all followed the Bible?
"Let love be without hypocrisy," the Holy Spirit says through Paul in Romans 12:9-18.
"Abhor what is evil; cleave to what is good.
"Be devoted to another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor;
not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in
tribulation, devoted
to
prayer, contributing
to
the needs of the saints, practicing
hospitality.
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and curse not. Rejoice with those who rejoice,
and weep with those who weep.
"Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate
with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
"Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If
possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
"Owe nothing to anyone," Paul adds in verse eight of the next chapter, "except to love one
another."
We find similar instructions in passages such as 1 Peter 3:8-9 and 1 Thessalonians 5:15.
How would following the Bible change our places of work?
"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh," Ephesians
6:5-9 teaches, "with fear and trembling, in the sincerity of your heart, as to Christ; not by way of
eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart.
"With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good
thing each one does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether slave or free.
"And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their
Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him."
Take a look, also, at 1 Timothy 6:1-2 and 1 Peter 2:18-20 in regard to our attitude toward
employers.
And what about our relationships with ourselves?
The Bible tells us how to deal with anger. First of all, we know from Mark 3:5 that anger in
and of itself is not wrong. But we also know from James 1:19-20 that the anger of man does
not achieve the righteousness of God. As we find from the Bible, the key is in how we deal
with anger.
"Be angry, and yet do not sin," Ephesians 4:26 advises, "do not let the sun go down on your
anger."
"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along
with all malice," Paul adds in verses 31-32.
"And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has
forgiven you.
Dealing with anger is associated with putting away bitterness and wrath. This depends
upon forgiving, which in turn relies upon God's forgiveness of us through Christ. Is it any wonder, then,
that humanistic attempts to deal with anger are such failures?
The Bible tells how to deal with guilt. Only the grace of God which is available through
obedience to His word can offer us real release from guilt. The first step along the pathway to
freedom from guilt is acknowledgement of wrong. In a world that has tried to eliminate the idea of "sin"
and "wrong" in favor of "personal choice," is it any wonder that no progress is being made in dealing with
guilt?
The Bible tells how to deal with low self-esteem. In Philippians chapter two we learn
that the greatness of Christ lies in His humble service to others.
Even psychologists admit
that the best way to overcome depression is to help others. What hope is there, then, for a system that
teaches the way to overcome low self-esteem is to place ourselves above all others and tell them, "No one
is going to tell me what to do"?
The Bible tells how to deal with problems in communication. The list goes on,
and we should spend much more time on each of the items we have already mentioned.
But the point is that the Bible has the answers to our problems. Sure, it makes us
simple-minded to believe that following the Bible can solve so many problems. But we suggest
that skeptics explain how rejecting the Bible is going to make the problems any better.
But in all the discussions of the past few weeks we have not yet touched on the
greatest problem of all.
Countries come and countries go. The most important thing, then, is not America's
relationship with God. It is the relationship of each of us with God. When all is said and done,
what each of us does will be much more important in eternity than what the country does.
There is little hope, too, for America to comply with the will of God while the various
religious bodies are rushing to conform with the trends of the world.
"Do not be conformed to this world," God warns in Romans 12:2, "but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is
good and acceptable and perfect."
It's little wonder that the country as a whole is not following God when many religious
bodies are rejecting His instructions in favor of their own ideas. They hold conferences to
decide on doctrines which are clearly established by God through His word. They seem to
think that they are wiser than God.
"Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Paul expresses in
Romans 11:33-36. How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
"For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? Or who has first
given to Him that it might be paid back to him again?
"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory
forever. Amen."
"That your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, Paul explains of his message in 1
Corinthians 2:5, "but on the power of God."
If we as individuals do not make our lives conform to the will of God, there is little
reason to expect the country as a whole to do so.
Our country is facing many tough problems. But America has faced, and overcome, many
problems in the past. Our only hope, though, is to become once again, "One nation under God."
The only hope we have as individuals is to abandon man-made religious teachings and
become united through the plain teaching of the Bible. It is only through unity in the truth that we
can be free.
Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R),
(C) Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977. Used by
permission."