Gtcotr/ss061420
Let’s
spend our time together this morning having a little serious-minded fun. Allow
me to use the evident truth to pick on those of us who are Believer’s in Jesus
today. If you are not a Believer in Jesus, sit back and enjoy listening while
we reassess our paradigms and refocus our perspectives a little. Allow me to
start the process by making this statement of fact: (Note: We are a phone
friendly Church…)
God is not thinking like you are thinking unless you are thinking
like He is thinking.
You
can give that a little time to soak in while we turn to Isaiah 55.
Isaiah 55 NKJV
6 Seek the LORD while He may
be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his
way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the LORD, And He
will have mercy on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.
Hold
that place right there in Isaiah 55 for a minute and let me say …
I
have it on Good Authority that:
·
Jesus
is not a Democrat
·
Jesus
is not a Republican
·
Jesus
is not an Independent
·
Jesus
is not a Liberal
·
Jesus
is not a Conservative
·
Jesus
is not a Moderate
·
Jesus is not a Socialist
·
Jesus is not a Fascist
·
Jesus is not an Anarchist
I
have it on Good Authority that:
·
Jesus
is not even an American
·
Jesus
is not Black
·
Jesus
is not White
·
Jesus
is not Asian
·
Jesus
is not Hispanic
·
Jesus
is not Catholic
·
Jesus
is not a Protestant
Rather:
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the
Living God, the One True Messiah, the only Savior of the World, the Prince of
Peace, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.
And
by the way … I also have it on Good Authority that Jesus is not a fan of CNN or
Fox News.
In
fact, I have it on Good Authority that Jesus is not primarily focused on or
predominantly fighting for:
·
Your
constitutional rights
·
Your
civil rights
·
Your
sense of justice
·
Your
educated opinion
·
Your
favorite football-team
·
Or
even your personal or special interest group’s heart-felt concerns
However,
Jesus has demonstrated His willingness to fight and die for one thing, and only
one thing … your immortal soul! Jesus is fully committed to saving you from
this world, its lusts, pride, problems, and its promises.
I
have it on Good Authority that Jesus is against disorder and chaos, abuse and
injustice, rioting, looting and murder … but who isn’t? The devil isn’t, that’s
who! Did you hold your place in the book of Isaiah, chapter 55?
Isaiah 55
8 “For My thoughts are
not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
9 “For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My
thoughts than your thoughts.”
God
is not embarrassed, intimidated, or shy when it comes to discussing the issues
at hand in America and around the world today. God has a simple, fail-safe
system to decide and define what is right and what is wrong. Here it is: He is right and everyone who does not agree with Him is wrong.
God is unanimous in His opinion. This is why earlier I said:
God is not thinking like you are thinking unless you are thinking
like He is thinking.
God
does not quibble when it comes to dividing sin from sinners and right from
wrong. He calls godliness right and He calls ungodliness wrong. God does not
have any trouble judging the difference between protests and rioting, abuse and
protection, opinion and fact, wisdom and lunacy, and neither should we.
It is wrong in the eyes of God to judge others by the color of their
skin, the badge on their uniform, their political affiliation, or the sins of
their fathers.
America
is in trouble and this is not the first-time friends have been locked in bitter
disputes, one towards the other, or brother has taken up arms in battle against
his brother, families torn apart, cities ravaged, and the nation divided. Jesus
said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”
This
morning we need to pray for America, the land of the free, the home of the
brave, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We
need to pray like President Abraham Lincoln prayed when he faced the task of
leading a divided nation subject to this world’s temptations and the woes of
evil forces.
Tensions
inflamed our nation in 1860 when The election of
Abraham Lincoln was labeled as an act of war by some Governors and
Congressmen. The country was told by a group of politicians that “armies would
soon come to seize slaves and force white woman to marry black men.”
On
November 9, 1860 South Carolina congressman John Winsmith drafted a resolution
to call the election of Abraham Lincoln, as U.S. President, a Hostile Act.
Faced with such organized opposition, Lincoln said, and I quote:
“I am rather inclined to silence,
and whether that be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a
man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.”
Abraham
Lincoln was the President of both the United, and the Divided, States of
America in one of the most difficult periods of our 244-year history. During
his 49 months in office Lincoln issued no less than 9 national proclamations
directing the citizens of America to re-assess their lives and re-center their
focus on God as our nation’s only hope.
By
the way, I have long been a student of history and it is interesting to me that
The Civil War, April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865, was a war of ideologies between Democrats and Republicans,
much like many imagine we are experiencing today. The struggle was over who was
going to be the President and leader of the nation. One political party was
willing to tear the country apart and even go to war against family and kill
their own people if they did not get their way. It might surprise many around
the world to know which political party was pro-life and pro-equality, and which
one was pro-slavery and willing to divide and destroy our nation rather than
accept Abraham Lincoln as their president.
During
the war, Lincoln overheard someone remark that he hoped "the Lord was on
the Union's side." Lincoln responded with this sharp rebuke:
“I am not at all concerned about
that, for I know that the Lord is always on the side of the right. But it is my
constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord's
side.”
Where
is God in all of this today? The same place He was in 1863 and in 1963 which is
the same place He will be 2063 and beyond.
Every
day, in many ways, God is offering us the only answer that will fix the problem
instead of prolonging it or making it worse. This trouble we are facing in
America is not a race issue, it is a responsibility issue. God will hold each
one of us responsible for what we think, say, and do in these troubled times.
He has given us clear instructions:
Philippians 2:3 Let
nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem others better than himself.
When
we humble ourselves, like President Lincoln did, and seek God’s face in hopes
He will show us His way; and when we begin to esteem others better than
ourselves and take responsibility for our own prejudice, pride and problems …
then perhaps we have a chance to see and be the change we need in America. You
may be the only chance your children, your friends and your enemies have to see
the Light that will challenge their hearts and ultimately change their minds.
Peace
has to begin in hearts before it can happen in homes. The
salvation of our nation will not depend on what happens in the White House but
rather on what happens in your house.
Who
benefits from families, friends, communities, races, or nations being divided?
The devil does. I preached two sermons on Sunday, March 19, 2017, “Loud Lies”
and “The Quiet Truth”. From those sermons we learned:
Many times the loudest voice is the voice of the devil and
destruction. However, loud lies cannot drown out the quiet and everlasting
Truth.
What
is truth?
·
John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life …”
Come
to Christ and submit to the Truth instead of giving your life to:
·
A
political paradigm (Political Ideologies of any type)
·
A
polished presentation (The love of money is the root of all evil)
·
A
whitewashed coverup (The devil is a liar and the father of lies)
·
A
hate-filled angry agenda (Anger does not accomplish God’s will)
·
A
racial profile (Refuse to be confined or defined by others – do you!)
·
A
personal opinion (Do not confuse opinion or commentary for truth)
·
A
frustrated fantasy (The Confederate States of America or CHAZ)
·
Empty
solutions (Stop wasting precious time and resources …)
We
should be defending the police instead of talking about defunding them.
This
is the time to embrace your personal moral confidence and not give in to the
pressure to embrace a false personal guilt of not being enough or doing enough
or saying enough.
If
you are racists or prejudice or abusive or brutal, repent, apologize and
change. If you are not, do not abandon your moral confidence in hopes it will
appease others. I have it on Good Authority that a lie will never fix the
problem. When you have done nothing wrong, refuse to run. Do not be afraid to
stand and speak the truth but stop short of hatred and violence.
Now,
if you claim to be a Born-Again Believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and
Savior of the world … act like it! Get busy helping Jesus save some folks from
an eternity in hell. When you get to heaven, you, and others you influence will
feel much better about your life accomplishments.
And,
I have it on Good Authority that you will receive the crown of life. (Endure
temptations - James 1:12 & Don’t fear the devil - Revelation 2:10)
