If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to Micah chapter 6.
Micah chapter 6.
God's allowed me to serve on five continents through mission
trips and those type things.
And although I've enjoyed most moments on every trip, I don't
want to live anywhere else besides America.
I also happen to believe I'm in the best part of America with the
best people in America.
So I get to enjoy the best of the best.
And I am for America.
I don't worship America.
I worship God.
And I don't want to try to institutionalize Christianity as a
religion in people's hearts that don't want it.
That does not work.
Constantine tried that in Rome after he felt like God spoke to him in a
dream and he had victory in battle.
And so he institutionalized Christianity as a religion.
And the reality is you can't force conversions.
You can't force manipulations.
You can't make people do that.
And it led in that day and age to a weak and fake and watered down church
filled with more tears than wheat.
And that's very much what it would do.
Folks, I want to be clear.
America is not a Christian nation.
It's a nation that was founded on Christian principles.
But you cut the TV on when you get home, if you dare.
And you'll find that this nation that was established for us to have the right to
worship the way we're to worship was a nation that was started the right way,
even though it was flawed at the time, 248 years ago.
It is now a nation that went far away from its foundation.
It's a nation where Christianity is freely shared, and I'm thankful for that.
But most Americans are not Christians.
I'll go as far as to say that most that claim to be Christians are not Christians.
Verbal agreement with something is not enough.
You've got to be hooked into the vine.
You've got to be, you've got to know Jesus Christ.
And we can't legislate that.
Pass all the laws you want to and enforce them so that everyone does what's right.
But listen, if we get all the laws straight and everybody behaves and don't break any laws,
if they don't know Christ, they'll spend eternity apart from him.
I believe as American citizens we have a responsibility to vote.
The vote is not really about making America Christian.
It's about participating in the process to do everything we can to get the best,
most godly decisions that we can for America.
And when leadership in America appears to have no moral compass,
at least from a godly standpoint,
Did you watch the debate?
You may have to hold your nose when you vote.
America is desperate for good, godly leadership.
And you may have been like me and looked at the television and said,
How in the world can a nation, as great with opportunity as America is,
not have good, godly leadership in place to carry through?
I'll tell you why.
Our country senses it.
It is.
You can smell it and all the liberal, perverted godlessness that fills the news stories.
But I want to be clear about something.
Jesus said the devil is the ruler of this world.
You know what that means?
That means that people listen to evil influences more than they do godly ones.
However, we're not the first nation to deal with poor leadership.
We're not the first nation to have an ungodly atmosphere.
We're not the first nation to be plagued with lostness.
It's not a new thing.
It goes way back.
Sin sickness is one of the main reasons why Israel fell in 722 B.C.
Sin sickness will lead a nation to fall.
And in that day, God allowed the Assyrians, which was a very evil people among themselves,
to overtake the capital of Israel and lead to the fall of a nation.
And the prophet Micah predicted it would happen.
The word of the Lord came to him.
In Micah 1 verse 6, he said,
Therefore, I will make Samaria a heap in the open country, a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley and uncover her foundation.
Their turn from God led to their demise.
Because God does not hide the heartache that comes from waywardness.
And we ought to learn from that example.
I believe he put it in scripture for us to see so that we'll learn from that example.
Not only did Micah speak of the fall of Israel, which he lived right in the midst of,
but he also spoke a concern of the same nature for Jerusalem, the capital of Judah.
And his message was one of warning.
I believe we live in a day when America needs a warning.
And if America is going to be renewed, I got news for you.
Renewal starts with God's people.
Not by voting it in, although we have a responsibility, again,
as citizens and godly folks to vote appropriately.
But by living and watching God bless that faithfulness.
Micah makes it clear what our priority is in such a situation as he lived
and in the situation as we live.
And it's actually the key passage in all of the prophecy of Micah.
It's found in our key passage, Micah chapter 6, verse 6 through 8, and says this,
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
He has told you, O man, what is good.
Key verse in all this book.
And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness
and to walk humbly with your God?
Micah was a country preacher that went to a big city in Jerusalem with a burden and a message.
He described his situation in Micah chapter 3, verse 8,
But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, and with justice and might
to declare to Jacob his transgressions and to Israel his sin.
Micah was just a common man with a burning message,
and he knew if his nation didn't change their ways that it would not last.
And his prophecy came true.
Within these nations, there were a lot of unfair treatment.
There were corrupt leaders in business, corrupt leaders in politics, and in every way of life.
And their fatal sins involved moral corruption, violence, deceitfulness.
In Micah chapter 3, verse 9 and 10, he reveals the sad lack of loyalty among the leaders.
When he says this,
Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice and make crooked all that is straight,
who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity.
Micah predicted disaster would come to a nation,
and such disgrace would come to the whole nation,
would cause them to blush with embarrassment.
Proverbs 14, 34, and I always think about this passage on July the 4th and the week of.
Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach, also translated a disgrace to any people.
With the moral corruption,
the unfair treatment,
the riotous living,
the lack of purity,
and the lack of loyalty
that characterize these nations.
Their profile, sadly, but surely,
resembles some things we see in our country today.
It does.
And let me imply, therefore,
if we heed their warnings,
we can be helped.
In a day when we celebrate sodomy
for a whole month,
and are proud of our sin,
and parade our shameless sin around,
when we have outward demonstrations of hatred
toward God's chosen people,
when somehow you can be racist
toward some people,
we have looked
to an amoral,
incapable,
ungodly
host of leadership
in our country.
And we've traded bedfellas
like baseball cards
to the nation
in so many ways
as a disgrace.
When illicit sex
is celebrated,
and drug moderation
is promoted,
and by the way,
alcohol is still
the most deadly of them,
homosexuality
is condoned
and celebrated,
abortion is ignored,
lying is expected,
most marriages fail,
and most kids are parentless.
When government is helpless
and crime is relentless,
Christians too often
are gutless.
The church
has little influence
in those atmospheres.
So how does the church
respond
to America?
What can we do
to change a nation?
Well, I encourage you
to learn from our past
because we can continue
to protest,
we can picket,
we can sue folks,
we can march,
we can pass laws,
we can publicly pray,
we can hold vigils,
we can make posts,
we can retweet stuff,
we can write books,
raise money,
wear t-shirts,
we can even smack
on bumper stickers.
It's not making
a lot of difference
in America.
it's on a downward
moral spiral.
And the church
is too often
influenced by the culture
instead of influencing
the culture.
And that's the exact
opposite as to how
Christ told us
to respond to our world.
So don't hide
the light of God's love
and truth under a basket.
As Jesus said,
let it shine.
Shine forth.
We are the spiritual
zest of this nation.
the guiding lights.
It is our responsibility
as the salt of the world
to flavor our society.
And the best options
that Americans have
is the same options
that all Americans have.
The best option
is salvation
through Christ.
And we must do
everything we can
to honor
and glorify Christ.
We have a message
the world needs to hear
through our mouths,
through our lives,
through our love.
We grow disgusted
often because
we're looking at a world
that lacks hope,
that lacks peace,
and we're wondering
why they act like they do.
We're expecting righteousness
to come from people
who don't know the Lord.
That's a bogus thought, folks.
Don't expect godliness
from those
that don't know the Lord.
It's not going to happen.
America cares little
about Christianity
because most that claim
Christ are not living for Him.
And the world sees
the difference in that
in too many lives.
Faith's not merely
associating with Christ.
It's having your life
changed by Christ.
It stirs what we do.
It stirs why we do it.
And I believe
to win the world,
we have to do
what verse 8
instructs us to do.
Christians,
this is how
you can make a difference
in your nation.
act justly.
Uphold what is right
in our lifestyle.
Take on spiritual
responsibility
seriously.
I want you to hear
what John says
in 1 John 1, 5-7.
He says this,
this is the message
we've heard from Him
and proclaim to you
that God is light.
In Him there is
no darkness at all.
Listen to this,
if we say we have
fellowship with Him
while we walk in darkness,
we lie and do not
practice the truth.
But if we walk
in the light
as He is in the light,
we have fellowship
with one another
and the blood
of Jesus His Son
cleanses us
from all of our sin.
If our lives
are not marked
by our fellowship
with God,
by our fellowship
with His people,
we're not in fellowship
with the Lord.
It has to show forth
in our lives.
And any time
that we proclaim
to have the Lord
and feel secure
about that,
but yet don't resemble
that in our life,
it's shady at best.
Our lives are to be marked
by acting out our faith
and that is described
here as justly.
So how do you do that?
Well, you surrender
your lives to Him.
It begins in one day
when you surrender
your life to the Lord Jesus,
asking Him to forgive you
of your sins,
to come into your life
and to cleanse you.
There has to be
a starting point
to this relationship
as any other relationship.
There has to be
a starting point to that.
And so one day
you surrender your life to Him
and do you know
what you do the next day?
You surrender your life to Him.
No, you don't get saved again,
but you get renewed once again.
You spend the rest of your days
giving the Lord your life,
surrendering our lives to Him.
Not one time just,
but all the time
from this day forward.
seeking His will in prayer.
We live our lives by His word
where His will is revealed.
We grow together with His people
because you will not be everything
that you need to be for the Lord
if you try to go it alone.
Jesus came
to go on a cross
and die for sinners.
rise again
and promise eternal life
found in Him.
And He came to establish a church
to reach the rest of the world
and to give us strength
to do everything that we can
for the Lord Jesus Christ.
We act justly.
Second thing is we love mercy.
There's a difference in grace and mercy.
Acting gracefully
is giving to people
what they do not deserve.
treating people better.
Mercy
is not giving people
what they deserve.
And God calls us
to be merciful.
To treat people better
than they deserve.
It is a word,
this word for mercy
is a word that is used
in consistency
to talk about
the consistent,
reliable,
kind,
love
that God has for us.
And when we love mercy,
we share His love
with other people.
I want you to hear me clearly.
There's no greater need on earth
than the love of Jesus Christ.
And so we love folks
in the Lord
and when they ask us
why we're doing it,
we tell them why.
Because Jesus changed my life
and He changed yours too.
We love mercy.
Lastly,
we walk humbly
before our God.
How much time
do you give the Lord
each day?
You don't have to be honest
with me,
be honest with yourself,
be honest with the Lord.
How much time
do you give the Lord
each day?
When He reveals
what you ought to do
in your life,
either through the precepts
of His word
that you're familiar with
or in your own time
with Him
when He reflects
and uses His word
to speak into your life,
how much do you obey His will?
How much do you even ask
of His will?
A humble walk
before God
is one where
we put God first,
then we put others
before ourselves
and then
we come along.
Now,
if you look at this
whole passage
and you look at
everything that it calls for
to
do justice
and love kindness
and to walk
humbly with your God,
if we do those things,
that means that
humility,
obedience,
and mercifulness
proclaimed in a total
lifestyle
is not only
our Christian duty,
but if being a good
American means
loving your country,
leading it in the
right direction,
helping all Americans
to succeed,
and letting everyone
enjoy their rights
without the infringement
of others,
then our American duty
is to share Christ.
I believe
our greatest
infringement
as Christians,
our greatest
infringement
to America
is failing
to tell them
their house
is on fire.
It's failing
to tell them
that the smoke
of our nation's
activities
are choking them.
Now,
let's just get real.
The fires of damnation
are licking
at their feet.
But that's exactly
what we do
when we don't
share Christ.
We just don't
bother to get involved.
Jesus said,
what does it,
what does one
prosper if he gains
the whole world
yet loses
his own soul?
And because of that,
we have a responsibility
to share Christ
with our nation,
sharing the greatest
love possible.
We have a responsibility
to sharing Christ
with our neighbor,
pointing them
toward righteousness.
We have a responsibility
to sharing Christ
with our coworkers,
giving them the opportunity
at true success
because true success
can't be found
outside of Christ.
We do not have
the right to stand
in the way
of one's opportunity
in Christ.
And when we know
the answer
and don't give it,
would you warn a child
playing in the road
that a car was coming?
If a family was asleep
in their house
and you noticed
their house was on fire,
would you bother
to wake them up
and tell them?
much of America,
much of America
does not know
that they'll spend
eternity apart from God.
They're just not aware of it.
They haven't listened.
So let's not yell at them.
Let's tell them
of our concern.
Let's live it out
before them
and walk it before them
and tell them
your story.
Has Christ
changed your life?
best person
to tell that story
is you.
And you need to trust
not your eloquence
in being able
to say it.
You need to trust
that God's instructed
us to do that.
And he gets
in the middle of it.
And the Holy Spirit
gets in the middle of it.
And your humble,
somewhat broken testimony
of what Christ did
to you somehow
impacts somebody
else's life,
not because of the power
of what you say,
but because of the power
of the Holy Spirit
of God
working between you
and working
in their lives.
You never understand
the timing of God.
I question it sometimes.
But I'll tell you
what's special about it.
What I do know
is that God's working
in people's lives
that I don't know
anything about
and God's working
in my life
that people don't
know anything about.
And when he puts us
in contact with one another,
special things
can happen sometimes.
Divine appointments
where lives can change.
And that's our responsibility.
So my hope and prayer
this week of the 4th,
may we be stirred
by the power
of the gospel
more than the power
of politics
and more than the power
of our own selfish priorities.
may we be stirred
by the power
of the gospel.
Never head bowed,
never I could...