Gtcotr/ss080121
With so much of our history under current revision, or in some cases eliminated altogether from our classrooms, History is becoming a thing of the past. That’s funny, but seriously, it is important I ensure our church family is not ignorant of all God has done to preserve, protect, and provide us with His plan for us since the beginning of time.
Something you may not be aware of is that as of September 2020, 70% of American Colleges and Universities do not even require a US History course to be taken for History Majors. For example: History majors at UNC Chapel Hill are required to take African History, Asian History, and Middle Eastern or Latin History for their degree but not American History. Yale University, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Chicago also do not require a course in American History to receive a History Degree.
Five
important world events also being dropped or under review by elementary,
secondary, and higher learning schools this year are:
·
The
American Revolutionary War
·
The
Civil War
·
World
War I
·
World
War II
· The Holocaust
I am so glad we have not allowed the current social environment, ever changing public opinion, the threat of increased gang violence, or self-interest groups through the centuries to alter or re-write the Word of God. Although many have tried, the Word has not, does not, and will not change. Any revision of the Gospel of Jesus Christ could only be based on fiction, fable, or fantasy.
God saw fit to give us a written account of those things most dear to His heart and hope. I am truly thankful for the Bible; it is God’s Holy Word … a Rock on which I can always depend. Though many have tried to destroy it, remove it, ignore it, malign it, deny it, and make it out to be a lie, it will never change. From the first letter of Genesis to the last letter of Revelation, the Bible is the true and everlasting, imperishable Word of Almighty God and it is without equal.
What a privilege we have to hold in our hands the never-changing, everlasting, eternal plan for the redemption of mankind. The accounts of Noah and Abraham, Sarah and Rachael, Moses and Joshua, Rahab and Tamar, Boaz and Samson, Ruth and Deborah, David and Solomon, Bathsheba and Abigail, and Esther, and Daniel, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Mary and Joseph, and the Disciples of Christ, and those who built the first Churches along with so many martyrs who willingly gave their lives for their faith in Jesus … these accounts are all still being shared with life changing results all around the world every day.
God’s story … His-Story … the history of God bringing Jesus to a lost and hurting world … it is truth and truth has power. Fictions, fables, and fantasies do not. Listen to these powerful words:
John 8
31 Then Jesus said to those
Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
Where would we be without the written, recorded, boldly proclaimed Gospel of Jesus Christ.
BE IT KNOWN UNTO ALL MEN:
·
Jehovah God Almighty, created the heavens and the earth.
o
He
set the stars in their place
o
He
rules the universe
o
He
is eternal; omnipotent; omniscient; and omni-present
o
He
loves you, knows your name, and wants to be your Father
·
Jesus of Nazareth is the only begotten Son of God.
o
He
was born of a virgin
o
He
lived a sinless life
o
He
died a sacrificial, atoning death on the cross of Calvary
o
He
rose from the grave victorious over sin, death, and hell
o
He
is coming again in the air to collect His bride
·
There is a heaven and there is a hell.
o
Jesus
will one day come to judge the earth, angels, and men
o
Jesus
will win the battle and cast satan into the lake of fire
o
There
will be a new heaven and a new earth created by God
o
There
will be no sickness, sin, pain, or death
·
Jesus will forgive your sins and save your soul if you call on Him.
o
The
saved will enjoy eternity with Jesus forever …
o This is all paid for by the precious and perfect blood of Jesus
Before our nation was born, when America was only a few colonies governed by England, in the early 1700, in the winter of 1714 to be exact, the as yet unrevised, but almost altogether forgotten, history of America, tells us that a man was born in Gloucester, England. His name was George Whitfield. George wasn’t perfect, but he has since been perfected.
After graduating at Oxford, Whitfield became a minister of the Gospel and preached all over England before moving to the Americas in 1740 at the age of 25. During the next 30 years, critical years for America, Whitfield preached to crowds of 5, 15, 5000, 20, 200, 3, and even 30,000 in one setting without the use of a microphone. He preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ and God’s desire to save the repentant sinner, at any place and at any time. He recorded more than 18,000 sermons and spoke to more than 10,000,000 people, one city, one service, one witness, one revival at a time.
The messages and meetings surrounding Whitfield soon drew the attention of Benjamin Franklin who finally decided to check it out for himself. He went to hear Whitfield who was speaking from the steps of the courthouse in Philadelphia. When Franklin, ever the skeptic, sized up the crowd, he started walking away counting his strides. At the point where he could no longer hear Whitfield preaching the Word distinctly, he stopped and calculated the area and mass of people it would contain. According to his mathematics, and to his amazement, he calculated Whitfield could be heard clearly preaching the Gospel by more than 30,000 people.
Something else Benjamin Franklin noted which further amazed him. He wrote:
“… wonderful ... change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indifferent about religion, it seem'd as if all the world were growing religious, so that one could not walk thro' the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families of every street.” ~ Franklin
It is believed that 80 percent of the people living in America, both black and white, slave and free, young and old heard Whitfield preach the saving grace of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in person during those 30 years. He was an honest, serious, straight-forward preacher of the Word of God.
George Whitfield said:
“As God can send a nation or people no greater blessing than to give them faithful, sincere and upright ministers, so the greatest curse that God can possibly send upon a people in this world is to give them over to blind, unregenerate, carnal, lukewarm and unskilled guides.” ~ George Whitefield
He pulled no punches and is further quoted as saying:
"It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher." ~ George Whitefield
Jesus said, “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
Jesus also said:
Matthew 10: 34 “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”
All scripture must be interpreted and understood and applied in light of the one message of the Gospel. The Gospel is a message of faith and redemption. Scripture must therefore be interpreted by scripture.
Jesus was not suggesting that His end goal was division but rather He fully understood and wanted others to realize that when anyone decides to walk by faith in Christ, others, even others who are close, will be set at variance with them. We must not hold to our social acceptance more than we do the truth.
This world will do everything possible to intimidate you and force you to comply with their current truth and agenda. One of the biggest ploys of the devil is aimed at making you afraid to stand up and speak out.
Don’t fall into the trap of self-censorship when it comes to the truth, faith, and your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only Jesus saves.
When confronted by Nicodemus who was a powerful man in Jerusalem, Jesus kindly, lovingly, yet firmly and as a matter of fact said to Nicodemus:
John 3 NKJV
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
This
was not the most socially acceptable view at that time, nor since. But it is
the only truth, anything else, anything less, is fiction, fable, or fantasy.
Without accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior, men and women will die in their
sins. Without Christ:
·
Your
mom and your dad will die in their sins.
·
Your
husband or your wife will die in their sins
·
Your
son and your daughter will die in their sins.
·
Your
brother and your sister will die in their sins.
· Your best friend and their family will die in their sins.
Why would allow intimidation or fear of isolation or alienation make us self-censor in these precious moments and keep us from telling others the loving, saving truth about Jesus?
Today
I plead with you:
1.
Repent
and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
2.
Refuse
to allow intimidation to censor the Truth in you.
3.
Resist
forced compliance as you would resist the devil … after all … it’s just another
fake lion roaring in the wind … the real Lion is Jesus!
4.
Remember,
only the Truth can set you free!
