PLUS

Matthew 12:25 “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand”

On June 16^th, 1858 Abraham Lincoln stated the following about slavery in America:

“A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.”

The same can be said about a Christian America in 2016. We cannot claim to be a Christian nation and act with a willful disregard to Christian principles. We cannot endure, permanently, half unrighteous and half righteous. This nation will likely not be divided, but will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of godlessness will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public minds shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become the standard in all the land.

Christians must fight or our Christian America will fall. A house divided against itself cannot stand. We will either return to a land used by God for great good in this world, or we will proceed down a path that we will be used as a mighty tool in the hand of Satan himself.

The results will unavoidably stem from the path we choose. As Lincoln once said:

“If we do not do right I believe God will let us go our own way to ruin. But if we do right, I believe He will lead us safely out of this wilderness, adorning our arms with victory.”

PLEASE PRAY FOR CHRISTIAN AMERICANS TO UNITE OUR NATION ONCE AGAIN AROUND THE CAUSE OF CHRIST. A house divided against itself cannot stand.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that an American seven-year-old boy was blatantly denied his religious liberties at school lunchtime), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.”

After receiving Lee’s Resolution, the Second Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Five – Adams, Franklin, Sherman, Livingston, and Jefferson – to draft a full and formal declaration of independence. This declaration made clear that the Founders relied upon God for far more than just the adjudication of the rectitude of their intentions (see previous post).

Our Founders recognized that God Himself is the source of all human rights and liberties. Specifically, man is given rights and liberties “to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them.” To these humble men it was self-evident that man is “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”

So, according to our Founders, what was the role of government? Our Declaration of Independence makes this role clear: “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Make no mistake, the foundational and fundamental role of government is to preserve rights given to us by God. Government is never to be the source of rights, only the securer of rights. Any governmental power is to be ordained of God and consented to by man.

PLEASE PRAY THAT THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT WOULD RETURN TO ITS GOD-ORDAINED RIGHTFUL ROLE. We should never be content with accepting rights given to us by government, nor should we allow rights to be rescinded by government. God has given us our rights. Government is only useful to protect and preserve what God has given us. These are the sole reasons that governments are instituted among men; all else is illegitimate and beyond the powers ordained by God.

For similar thoughts, please see:
https://prayatlunch.us/self-evident/

I Samuel 2:10 “The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.”

On June 7^th, 1776 Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed the following:

“Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.”

These words formed the basis for the Declaration of Independence a month later. In that latter document, the Founders (in one long sentence) closely paralleled Lee’s thoughts:

“We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by the Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do.”

Our founders turned to the one and only Ultimately Authority. They didn’t appeal to other nations. They didn’t appeal to foreign military powers. They didn’t appeal to their own reason, education, or philosophy. They didn’t appeal to the prevailing cultural morality. Instead, they appealed to God, thus turning to the Supreme Judge of the world. It was to Him that they sought adjudication of their righteous intent – the rectitude of their intentions.

PLEASE PRAY FOR AMERICAN CHRISTIANS TO TURN SOLELY TO THE SUPREME JUDGE OF THE WORLD. It is His approval we seek. It is against His righteousness which we are to be measured. We must turn to Him alone for the rectitude of our intentions.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (that the Military Religious Freedom Foundation regularly bullies the military into denying religious freedom), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!

Nehemiah 1:7-8 “We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments, which thou commandedst thy servant Moses. Remember, I beseech thee, the word that thou commandedst thy servant Moses, saying, If ye transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations”

Matthew 9:36 “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.”

There is a price to transgression beyond traditional hardship (see previous post), as if that isn’t enough. When we fail to keep God’s commandments, statutes, and judgments it literally and figuratively drives us apart. It scatters our society and fractures our community. It replaces unity with division. It transplants divisiveness for cohesiveness.

This nation, through a common faith, was once unified in spite of our diversity. Our sense of community was lauded by outside observers like Alexis de Tocqueville. Our mutual faithfulness inseparably bound us together because we followed the same shepherd. Now, as that faith has been replaced with the idols of the day, we are scattered abroad.

PLEASE PRAY FOR A LIFE, A SOCIETY, AND A NATION THAT FOLLOWS OUR SHEPHERD IN UNITY. Being Savior-centered is far better than being scattered abroad.

For other posts that refer to Alexis de Tocqueville see:
https://prayatlunch.us/strong-sway/
https://prayatlunch.us/sincere-sacrifices-de-tocqueville-ii/
https://prayatlunch.us/exceptional/
https://prayatlunch.us/enlightened-and-free/

Proverbs 13:15 “Good understanding giveth favour: but the way of transgressors is hard.”

Because of our personal and national sins, we are setting ourselves up for further hardship in this nation. Our transgressions are making our ways hard. The results are plastered all over the news, though the media neither recognizes the correlation nor reports on the causality. The results are financial hardship and economic hardship; social hardship and community hardship; security hardship and legal hardship; educational hardship and vocational hardship; leadership hardship and followership hardship; domestic hardship and international hardship; political hardship and diplomatic hardship.

The difference is as stark as any. We could live quiet and peaceable lives (I Timothy 2:2) or we could live hard lives. We could pray for righteousness and wisdom for ourselves and our leaders and benefit from peace, freedom, and prosperity under God, or we could neglect our most basic citizenship responsibility to pray and accept a society that embraces transgression while being burdened by hardship.

The choice is as simple as the difference is stark. Christians must rise up and preach to government, participate in government and pray for government. We must strive for personal righteousness while seeking societal renewal. We must not accept a life of hardship.

PLEASE PRAY THAT OUR NATION WOULD NEITHER BE CHARACTERIZED NOR DEFINED BY TRANSGRESSION. Such a nation faces hardship, though it need not be so if we return to God and righteousness.

SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re ENCOURAGED (by the 12 states who are standing up against massive federal overreach), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!
SET YOUR ALARM: If you’re alarmed (by the 38 states who are not standing up against massive federal overreach), set your alarm (to pray for our nation)!