I was listening to Steve Hadley recently, and he
used a quote from Abraham Lincoln that really struck me.
“We have been the recipients of the choicest
bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and
prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has
ever grown. But we have forgotten
God. We have forgotten the gracious hand
which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us,
and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these
blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have
become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving,
too proud to pray to the God that made us.
It behooves us, then to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to
confess our nations sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness."
Abraham Lincoln
March 30, 1863
Isn’t it amazing how a quote from over 150 years
ago still resonates so strongly regarding the state of our nation!
There is no doubt that America has been greatly
blessed by the Almighty throughout most of our history and have grown to
possess wealth and power to the point that we have been recognized as the richest,
most powerful, influential nation on planet earth. I’m afraid that is not going to be true much
longer.
“BUT we have forgotten God.” Sad to say, not only have we forgotten God,
we have basically rejected God. He is no
longer welcome in our government, our schools or—more and more every day—in
society as a whole. It is becoming
increasingly clear that those of us who choose to live our lives based on the
truth of God’s word are being identified as troublemakers, unloving and
disruptive to society.
Sadly, more and more people that profess to be
“Christian” are making the decision to reject the truth of scripture and align
themselves with false teaching so as to be able to be politically correct and
fit in with the culture. The problem is
that the truth of God’s word is irrefutable and unchangeable. Those who can so easily reject that truth,
usually by perverting it to make it mean what they want towards supporting a
personal agenda, need to examine their profession.
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith….”
Scripture
is very clear in declaring that the word of God stands forever, and its truth
is everlasting. A true Christian accepts
this truth. Do you?
Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withereth,
the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”
Psalms 119:89 “For ever, O LORD, thy
word is settled in heaven.”
Psalms 119:160 “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.”
1 Peter 1:25 “But the word of the
Lord endureth for ever.”
Scripture
is also very clear in declaring that you can identify a man/woman by his/her
fruits.
Matthew 7:15 & 20–23 “Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves….Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know
them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done
many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you:
depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
A true believer is one that possesses the
indwelling Holy Spirit and acts accordingly—again, producing the appropriate
fruit.
Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so
be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.”
Galatians 5:22–24 “But the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.”
Ephesians 5:8–10 “For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye
light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable
unto the Lord.”
John
adds one more important point that should be included in your examination.
1 John 2:21–22 “I have not written
unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie
is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?”
John
declares that a true believer will not deny that Jesus is the Christ, the
promised Messiah, our Savior, the anointed Son of God.
Titus 2:11–14 “For the grace of God
that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly,
in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our
Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from
all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good
works.”
Luke 1:30–35 “And the angel said
unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS….Then said Mary
unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel
answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of
God.”
Have you
examined yourself honestly? Did you
pass?