Author: John Page 139 of 166

Psalm 127:1 “Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it; except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

In the speech referenced in the previous post, Dr. Ben Franklin went on to say:

“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God Governs in the affairs of men.  And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid?  We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour in vain that build it.’  I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than the Builders of Babel:  We shall be divided by our little partial local interests; our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves shall become a reproach and bye word down to future ages.  And what is worse, mankind may hereafter from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing Governments by Human wisdom and leave it to chance, war and conquest.

I therefore beg leave to move – that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to officiate in that Service.”

Whatever we attempt to build or keep will be in vain unless we relinquish control unto the Lord.  Ben Franklin specifically applied this truth to the political realm in the attempt to create and sustain the United States of America.  How did Dr. Franklin recommend that the Founding Fathers put this truth into action?  His recommendation was a simple one, to pray daily for our nation while imploring the assistance of Heaven.

May we take this advice and apply his recommendation today as our Founding Fathers readily did during late June of 1787.  For them, it created an environment that mended their divisions and yielded a Heavenly wisdom that formed our founding document.  For us, may it mend our divisions and yield a Heavenly wisdom that returns us to the truths contained in that founding document.

PLEASE PRAY DAILY, IMPLORING THE ASSISTANCE OF HEAVEN TO REDIRECT OUR ERRANT NATION.  God does govern the affairs of men and our efforts are in vain without Him.

Isaiah 59:10 “We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes; we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.”

Job 12:25 “They grope in the dark without light, and he maketh them to stagger like a drunken man.”

As the end of June approached in 1787 and the temperatures rose in Philadelphia, so did the tempers at the Constitutional Convention.  After several weeks of debate and deliberation, the men that were assembled there faced several impasses that threatened to derail the new nation before it even began.  Recognizing the precariousness of the situation, the elder statesman Dr. Benjamin Franklin rose to his feet to state the following:

“In this situation of this Assembly, groping as it were in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of lights to illuminate our understandings?  In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for the divine protection.  Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered.  All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor.

To that kind providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity.  And have we now forgotten that powerful friend?  Or do we imagine that we no longer need his assistance?”

Ben Franklin, a man not known for a religious fervency, recognized the fruitlessness of continuing on in the absence of daily prayer for our nation.  What sense did it make to grope about in darkness when the light was readily available?  What sense did it make for them to imagine that they no longer needed the Lord’s assistance?  What sense did it make to depart from the proven instances of superintending providence in their favor?  Apart from God, the loose collection of states had no hope of joining into a viable nation.  Apart from God, they were destined to stumble at noonday as in the night.

The same is true today.  Apart from God, we are destined to stumble at noonday as in the night.  Apart from God, we have little hope of remaining a viable nation.  What sense does it make to grope about in darkness when the light is readily available? What sense does it make for us to imagine that we no longer need the Lord’s assistance?  What sense does it make to depart from the proven instances of superintending providence in our nation’s favor?  The answer to these rhetorical questions is the same as in Dr. Franklin’s time; it makes no sense.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD RECOGNIZE THE FRUITLESSNESS OF CONTINUING ON IN OUR NATION IN THE ABSENCE OF DAILY PRAYER.

Romans 1:22 “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.”

In the Wall Street Journal article referenced in my previous post, the most interesting finding regards the intentional ignorance about the compelling research that uplifts the Bible-based family as the preferred alternative to all others.  The authors state the following:

“Yet in the current discussions about increased inequality, few researchers, fewer reporters, and no one in the executive branch of government directly addresses what seems to be the strongest statistical correlate of inequality in the United States: the rise of single-parent families during the past half century.”

They go on to say the following about the primary professional organizations engaged in inequality research:

“In the past four years, our two academic professional organizations—the American Political Science Association and the American Educational Research Association—have each dedicated annual meetings to inequality, with numerous papers and speeches denouncing free markets, the decline of unions, and ‘neoliberalism’ generally as exacerbating economic inequality. Yet our searches of the groups’ conference websites fail to turn up a single paper or panel addressing the effects of family change on inequality.”

Though the world ignores the viewpoint on this issue that does not coincide with their political agenda, it doesn’t make the truth any less true.  In fact, the more adamant they are in claiming a prominent role of second-order factors in American inequality, the more they reveal themselves as politically and not practically motivated.  The more they claim wisdom apart from the Bible (and compelling research), the more they reveal themselves as fools.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIANS WOULD NOT BE AFRAID TO SPEAK THE TRUTH ON BIBLE-BASED ISSUES.  No matter how loud the world trumpets their viewpoints, the Biblical viewpoint is the one that our nation must hear and heed.  Our spiritual and practical well-being are at stake, regardless of what the ‘wise’ among us would have us to believe.

Matthew 19:5-6 “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?  Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh.  What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

In a recent contribution to the Wall Street Journal entitled “Ignoring an Inequality Culprit: Single-Parent Families”, the authors describe detailed research on the tangible benefits of a Biblical family unit:

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303603904579493612156024266

Through their research, the authors conclude the following:

“Abuse, behavioral problems and psychological issues of all kinds, such as developmental behavior problems or concentration issues, are less common for children of married couples than for cohabiting or single parents, according to a 2003 Centers for Disease Control study of children’s health. The causal pathways are about as clear as those from smoking to cancer.”

They go on to cite research that “the poverty rate [in America] would be 25% lower if today’s family structure resembled that of 1970.”  This is strong evidence that God’s plan for the family is far preferable to all alternatives.  Indeed, Biblical direction in all areas is so powerful because it furthers not only our spiritual well-being, but our practical well-being as well.

On this Father’s Day, may American Christian fathers and mothers commit ourselves to the importance of the Biblical family unit.  We must first do so in our individual lives, allowing God’s truths to flourish through us.

PLEASE PRAY THAT AMERICAN CHRISTIAN FAMILIES WOULD CLING TO A BIBLE-BASED STRUCTURE AND COMMITMENT.  The evidence of its success in our lives may eventually tip the cultural scales back towards a Bible-based family.  We must live according to Christ’s commands for this cause, among others.

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John 15:18-21 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”

If the memo mentioned in the previous post was published with the word “Christian” instead of “LGBT” there would be no end to the public outrage.  The response would be filled with vitriol and hatred.  Such a response would be no surprise to our Saviour.

Indeed, our Saviour faced His own vitriol and hatred, and telegraphed the same to His servants in John 15.  The world did not love Him, nor should we expect it to love us.  The world persecuted Him, and we should not expect to be immune from persecution ourselves.  After all, if we are truly Christians then Christ has chosen us out of this world.

In reality, the attitude towards Christianity in the first two hundred years of our nationhood is an extreme anomaly orchestrated by the Lord himself.  Such an attitude has been extraordinarily rare in the two thousand year history of Christianity.  Persecution and hatred have instead been the norm.

This truth should not horrify us.  In fact, such treatment of Christians would give us more in common with our Christian brothers and sisters throughout history.  It also does not alleviate our responsibility to be salt and light in our world.  In fact, our salt and light is more savory and more illuminating when contrasted to a world that has neither.  It also does not alleviate our responsibility to pray for revival and act together with one accord as Christian citizens.

We should far prefer a future in America as anomalous as the past, and God could make it so at any moment.  Yet, he will only do so if we are urgently faithful.  PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO BE MOTIVATED AND NOT DETERRED BY THE WORLD’S REACTION TO US.  It puts us in very good company … that of Christ.