Flags, Freedom, and the Face of God

Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 15. Speaking of Christ, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. Read that again. He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy, the international version says, or preeminence. I wanted to bring the flag around to the front. It does fly here every Sunday morning, but probably you've never seen it in the back. I don't know about you, but I've noticed a few more flags flying than normal this last week or so. Isn't it amazing when something that we value is assaulted, or at least seemingly so, that we respond rather passionately? The events of the last two weeks have really fueled an interest in the flag, as we all know, and certainly the Fourth of July reminds us of our freedoms, but the third part of the title of this message is the face of God. I really do wonder where America stands when it comes to seeking the face of God. Now, folks, admittedly, I have to say to you, this is a difficult subject to approach from the pulpit, because churches are not to be political, and we never have been political in the sense of choosing parties and all the rest. If you search the Scriptures, you'll find that God is not an American. We are not going to find that He has a design for a perfect form of government. We are not going to gain some kind of most favored nation trading status with the Almighty just because we live here. But on the other hand, the Bible does say that God cares about nations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord and the people whom He has chosen as His heritage, Psalm 33, 12 says. Righteousness, as I said earlier, exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to many people, Proverbs 14, 34. May His name endure forever, His fame continue as long as the sun. May men bless themselves by Him, and all nations, not just individuals, but all nations call Him blessed, Psalm 72, 17. We know clearly, reading the Old Testament, that God dealt with the nation of Israel, and had a clear destiny for that nation of people, and dealt with them in accordance with their national deeds. I dare say, folks, that there were many faithful Jews to the law back in those days when somehow the mass of people fell under judgment. Like you, I love our nation. We've already established that today. Recently, I returned from a vacation out to Colorado, as I shared last week, and I saw the amber waves of grain, and I got my pictures back yesterday of the Purple Mountains' majesty. It's a wonderful nation. I know that you, as I, often just take it for granted. Just take a little mission trip. Take a little mission trip next fall, and visit some nations that don't live under the blessing we've come to know. Dear ones, there is no true freedom without God. The Bible says that He, whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. There is no real liberty without God, and ignorance on this subject is about to bury the United States of America. I want to say that again. Ignorance on this subject is about to bury our great nation. Do you know that George Washington, our first president, said this? Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. That is, if you tear them out, the political structure will fall. John Adams, great statesman, signed the Declaration of Independence, said that statesmen may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is religion and morality alone which can establish the principles upon which freedom may securely stand. Dear ones, I don't know about you, but just a few weeks ago, when the Chinese people were sending such a heart-wrenching message about their desire for democracy and freedom, I don't know about you, but I found myself weeping for them in their plight, and also for what I perceive to be the desire for democracy without an understanding. The goddess of democracy will not stand. What China needs is the gospel. We here in America have known that, and if we pursue and investigate with some sense of real intensity, we'll find that where we have come from is a far cry from where we are now and where we are going. I want to look at just a few points today that I think touch on the essence of what the struggle is in our nation and what we need to do about it. Number one, I want to look at the Supreme Court. Amy made reference to that group of people, eight men, one woman. By the way, Amy shared with me just before the service that Sandra Day O'Connor is a very sick woman. Did you know that? I don't know all the details. I'm not informed on this, but I know Amy studies these things and investigates them and has heard with real authority that she has serious cancer. That's something for us to be praying about very seriously. I don't remember a time in the last months or years actually of my life that the Supreme Court has gained more attention than it has in these last couple of weeks. The decision to legalize the desecration of the flag raised such an unprecedented outcry that even more liberally minded people were offended. Such publications as Newsweek couldn't resist statements like this. For most Americans, the flag is the single most important symbol of nationalism. To combat veterans, it recalls comradeship in time of danger and those who will never return. In others, it is a symbol of the national pride that has grown perceptibly stronger in the last dozen years, causing State Representative Douglas Applegate of Ohio to say, what in God's name is going on? As we know, President Bush has moved now to pass a constitutional amendment to preserve our flag from desecration. Now, add to that the Court's obvious struggle. I believe it's an obvious struggle with this issue of deciding the abortion case. Someone said that back in April or May when they heard the case, they decided that week. Apparently, we don't know as much as we think. And it's an indication to me of the magnitude of the struggle that's going on within the Court that they have not made this decision public. Tomorrow they may. If they don't, then it's not going to be till fall. And I've heard some say it might not be till next year. But you see, these eight men and one woman carry an incredible responsibility. I shared with you that some months ago, I was in our local common police court as part of my participation in Operation Rescue. And I remember sitting there for hours as the judge heard case after case, one illustration. Two men stood up. One had two witnesses who saw him punch this man first, and the other man had two witnesses who saw that man punch him first. The exact opposite story with corroborating witnesses. The judge heard that and I said that I had no clue as to who was telling the truth. So what I'm saying to you is when it gets into matters of national significance, I have deep respect for the Supreme Court and the challenges that these individuals face. But what's been taking place, dear ones, has become rather scary to people who understand our Constitution. The Supreme Court justices are meant to be interpreters of the United States Constitution. That's their call. They are not to be framers of legislation. And yet, with one decision and stroke of their pen, they can wipe out the laws as they just did with the flag. There are laws on every state in our union that say you cannot desecrate this flag. In one decision, the Supreme Court has wiped out all those laws. Now, perhaps the most challenging illustration of this authority has been what has taken place over the last 25 years since the United States Supreme Court has begun to involve itself in religious matters in this nation. And folks, I want you to listen carefully because I fear that many of us have a misunderstanding as to what really is in our Constitution. And you're easily intimidated by someone who says, well, and they quote the famous phrase, the separation of church and state. As their reason why you can't do anything to express your freedoms as guaranteed in the Constitution. Here are a few facts you just may want to jot down. First of all, the phrase separation of church and state does not appear in the United States Constitution. In fact, in the First Amendment, neither separation or church, those words don't appear at all. It was Thomas Jefferson in 1802 speaking to a group of Baptists that coined that phrase in an attempt to assure them that no one would come in and establish a particular denomination as a national religion. Fact number two, every indication from history is that the framers of the Constitution were profoundly convinced that there was an interdependence between religion and the state. Now, I strongly challenge you to come to terms with that. If you read what the founding fathers wrote, and by the way, jot these two books down, one called The Myth of Separation by David Barton and Pat Robertson's book, America's Dates with Destiny. If you read either of those or both of those books, you will have some handle on some of the details I have no time to cover today. The framers of our Constitution believed that there was an indissoluble bond, that in fact, if you took religion out of the state, the state would crumble. What today's interpreters of the Constitution are saying is that the religious values and morals of our society have no place in our public square. Dear ones, that is not what those who founded our nation intended. Now, understand how significant this is. For 150 years since the First Amendment was established, there was not one case decided against religion until 1947, when the court, in an unprecedented fashion, with no reference, by the way, to any prior court decision, which is the common way they substantiate their decisions, without any references to prior cases in 1947, the court said that the Constitution establishes, they used the phrase from Thomas Jefferson, a wall of separation between church and state. Now, not a whole lot happened in the 50s, but in 1962, what happened? Well, the court ruled that you could no longer pray a prayer in public schools. How many of you grew up and you could pray and read the Bible in school? Well, see, that's still a great majority. Hear what I'm saying now. See, we don't understand what's happening. We don't understand the impact over the last 25 years of that decision. In just a moment, I'm going to show you some of the statistics that have been borne out as a result of that. Since that decision of 1947, here are some of the things that have happened. Here's the way it is today. If a student prays over his lunch, it is unconstitutional for him to pray out loud. Reed versus Van Ho in 1965. A verbal prayer offered in school is unconstitutional, even if it is both denominationally neutral and voluntarily participated in. 1962, 63, and 71. It is unconstitutional for a war memorial to be erected in the shape of a cross. 1969, city of Eugene. It is unconstitutional for a kindergarten class to ask during a school assembly whose birthday is celebrated at Christmas. That's not... Listen, you know what happened here in our local school district this last year. I told you about that. It is unconstitutional for the Tenth Amendment to hang on the walls of a classroom since it might lead the students to read them, meditate upon them, respect them, or obey them, even though they appear in a number of our government buildings in Washington, D.C. It is unconstitutional for a school graduation ceremony to contain an opening or closing prayer. In Alaska public schools, students were not allowed to use the word Christmas because it had the word Christ in it. On and on it goes. A principal was told to remove the Bible from the library in his public high school because it established religion. You see, these things, these are not isolated cases. And it was Abraham Lincoln who said and understood very clearly that once you control the education of a culture, then you've determined its destiny. The reason why we are not gripped with the magnitude of this, folks, because most of us grew up and it was all normal. But the generation that's following us does not know that. And these are facts. What the framers had in mind is different than what is being interpreted in these days. Now, what this has led to is what is really shocking to me. And I want to share with you, and I just have a few minutes, but look at some of the statistics now. What has happened in our nation since that decision has come down in 1962 to remove prayer and Bible reading from schools? Number one, now these are light and I apologize for that, but it's the best we can do. These are total incidences of violent crime since 1962. If you can read the statistics, violent crime has quadrupled in the last 25 years since 1962. That large bar in the middle says divine law rejected since 1962. Violent crime has quadrupled in America. The next one tells us of the divorce rates in our country. The divorce rates have gone over 2.3 times what they were just 25 years ago since we pulled prayer and Bible reading from our schools. Sexually transmitted diseases, STDs. We all know of AIDS, and dear ones, this doesn't really even accurately reflect what's happening in that whole issue. But since 1963, the cases of sexually transmitted diseases has tripled in our country. And as we all know, AIDS, most researchers say there is no cure on the foreseeable horizon. And as Amy was helping us to understand, look at the next one, the birth rates for unwed women ages 15 to 19 years of age per 1,000 women has gone from 15 in 1962 to nearly 30, about doubled over the last 25 years. These are serious consequences in the moral fabric of our nation. And you see, these kinds of things are a reflection of what happens when a nation forsakes God, when religion is pulled out as a support for the democracy that we so highly tout. Let me give you an illustration. A few years ago, I was driving by Country Road and I saw a car that I thought was really sharp. It was the same kind of car I used to have when I was just out of college. And most of you who like antiques and things will understand this. This wasn't an antique, but to me, it had that same kind of value. And this thing was beautiful. I mean, it was shining and glistening. The paint was just immaculate. And I stopped and looked at it. The man came out. I started the engine. It sounded tremendous. The engine sounded strong. I said, if I can get this, it'll take me back. I'm not sure what the value of that was. But then I began to do an investigation and I reached up underneath the fender wells and pulled my hand down and there was damp rust coming down. And I looked up underneath the hood where the wheel wells go and it was holes coming through there. Then I looked underneath and looked at some of the places on the frame where rust had eaten through. And you know what I discovered? That beautiful, newly painted, strong sounding car was a rust bucket. I mean, it was going to fall apart in a year or two. It had all the signs on the outside of being a strong, clean machine, but underneath it was falling apart. I want to submit to you folks that on the surface, our nation is shining. But underneath, all the indications are there that if something doesn't happen, we're going to fall apart. It is very difficult for us to go out of this place and enjoy swimming pools and country clubs, golf games, private homes and all the rest that we have and think that anything's wrong in our nation. But all is not well. These statistics I just shared indicate that. And they are just the tip of the iceberg. Economically speaking, do you know that in the last five years we have gone from the wealthiest nation to the world's greatest debtor nation? Do you know that? We owe more money to foreign governments and individuals than any other nation in the world. What does that mean? Well, it means that if they wanted to, they could pull out their support and it's likely that our economy would crash. How many of you heard about the savings and loan crisis? Well, that doesn't affect me. My money's insured up to $100,000. Do you know that if, again, that whole system tomorrow could collapse? We have pumped $20 trillion of cash into this economy over the last 20 years and it has nowhere to go. I remember 1987, October the 19th, Black Monday. We had a staff retreat, if I call, Scott. What was funny about that was that was the day that our first commercial came out on television and it was due to come out right before the seven o'clock news. And so all the staffs huddled around the TV set in this little retreat we were having and the commercial comes on and I say, if you feel like quitting, we're here to help. And the next thing that comes on is Peter Jennings saying, the stock market dropped 500 points. I said, oh my God, what are people going to be calling? Well, all of us knew that in the next 24 hours, if the stock market crashed another 500 points, we knew what was going to happen. It didn't. You say, well, see that? Everything's under control. No, it's not under control. I'm not here to talk at length. I just want you to hear what I'm saying, folks. Underneath what seems to be the glitz and glitter and glory and prosperity of it all, things are not that healthy. Spiritually speaking, I've talked morally, economically, spiritually. There may be some bright spots. I thank God for some of the strong churches and good works we hear about. But folks, let's be honest with each other. By and large in our nation, spiritual sensitivity is waning. I want to say in my 20 years since I was a youth, from when I began my youth ministry, I've never seen less interest in teenagers than I see right now. No interest. It's good for you. Don't bother me. I have to work. That's the common response. With few exceptions, churches struggle to survive. That's really the truth of it. Interestingly, though, the Gallup polls tell us that people are more interested in religion. It could be because they're finding that the answers that they're searching for in prosperity aren't there. However, the churches are unable to respond to them. What's taking place is an increasing adversarial role between the government, the church in lots of different ways. I was shocked, I suppose you would be, to read that on June the 11th, just three weeks ago, a group of people entering into their church called New Creation Community in Virginia Beach, New Creation Community, expected their normal Sunday morning service. Their expectations were not fulfilled. Instead, in the very midst of their service, four police cars pulled into the parking lot and police officers armed with over 70 summonses broke into the sanctuary. They interrupted the worship service and served 15 of those summonses to members of the congregation. These kinds of things are happening to us. And, folks, we have to realize that when we're in His ways, there are consequences. See, number two, Jesus Christ is supreme. And you cannot violate His laws. You cannot ignore Him. You cannot legislate Him out of your culture with impunity. The problem in our nation right now is people do what they want to do and they don't suffer any consequences before God that they understand, and so they just keep doing it. When Amy said that pregnancy was a consequence of abortion, you see, when you can remove the consequence, why not just keep doing it? I'm sorry, pregnancy was a consequence of sexual activity. You can have abortion, just keep on doing your things. I'm not even talking yet about the drug problem. Governor Casey stands up with a big smile on his face and he's real proud about spending 90 million dollars to fight drugs in our state. Like it's a victory, you know. He should be sighing, I think, with tears in his eyes. This is awful. The schools that we grew up in and love, many of us, are different places. Many of them are jungles. In the cities, folks, some teachers quit after one year because they can't stand the pressure. Occasionally, you'll find a hero that makes it through and somehow survives 10 years and you know it's a big deal. Because Christ is supreme, I'll tell you something, we can count on one thing. God will defend His honor in His name and judgment will come. Now, I don't I don't stand up here today and and even purport to be a prophet or someone who sees into the future. I am not going to make any prophecies this morning. But judgment has already begun. Now, some people say, well, if God really judges America, there's going to be a nuclear holocaust. Maybe so. I don't know. Some say, well, if God really judges America, the whole economic base of our nation will fall apart and collapse and we'll go into a worldwide depression and no one have anything anyhow, so we'll all be in the same boat. I don't know. Someone says, well, maybe maybe AIDS will develop a new strain that that somehow infiltrates even normal sexual activities and wipe out the whole culture that way. I don't know. But here's what I do believe. God says that judgment begins in the household of faith. We must see that even if our neighbors and our friends and associates have no clues to what's going on, we need to begin to respond to what we know is happening in our nation. God will not have to explain to us if he brings judgment, dear ones. He's been very long suffering with us. He's been patiently calling to us to walk in humility and repentance before him. He's repeatedly warned us that if we don't turn, that we're likely to suffer devastating consequences. You see, I understand God sends judgment not so he can wipe out of people. He sends judgment so people will be spared from the consequences of their own dealings. You read Malachi chapter four. He says that the father's hearts would be turned to the children and the children of the fathers, lest I send the judgment. God doesn't want to bring it, but he must to preserve his name and protect his people from destroying themselves. And so what is then the supreme call that we face? Listen carefully as I conclude, and I have one more speaker that I want you to hear this morning. Number one, in light of all this, and I've really only touched on some of it today, I have a lot more to share with you. Number one, don't be lulled to sleep. You know, it's interesting that in Jesus' last days of teaching, when he talked about his coming again, he told a parable in Matthew 25 of 10 virgins. And if you read that parable today, when you leave here, verse five will jump out at you as it did to me. Because you see, these virgins all knew that the bridegroom was coming back, symbolic of Christ. But instead of being ready, they fell asleep. Half of them fell asleep. Half of them were not able to stay awake until he came back. I had a friend who just a couple of years ago was on a long journey, driving in a new car, comfortably equipped. He was traveling at night. He only had about another 150 miles to go, so he figured he'd finish his ride that night rather than stay overnight. About one o'clock in the morning, he fell asleep. The car went off the side of the road, hit the guardrail, spun back across the road, hit the center, spun around, totaled the car. It didn't hurt him. I said, well, what happened? You know, people wonder what happened. He said, everything was fine. I just fell asleep. I wonder, is that what's happening with us? Is everything so fine and so comfortable that we're just prone to fall asleep? God help us if we fall asleep, church. Number two, check your relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I would that you were hot or cold, Revelation 3.15, but since you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out of my mouth. Dear ones, as much as we would like to, we cannot blame where we're at with God on our church, on our home group leader, on our circumstances at work. We are the only ones that are responsible to answer to God for why we are where we are with God. This is a day to bring the light of God's word upon our daily lives. It's a day of holiness and a summons to obediently following Christ with all of our hearts. Where are you with God? Next week in my message, I want to talk to you about the impossibility of following Christ. Number three, corporate prayer. And I needn't go into a long challenge in this except to say that God told us in his word, in 2 Chronicles 7 and verse 14, that if my people who are called by my name, that's us, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Dear ones, let me ask you a question. What will you say to almighty God when he asks you, where were you when your nation walked away from me? What did you do with your life when you could have been there to pray? The Bible doesn't say when the pagans start praying, it says when my people who are called by my name. So I don't like you to keep telling me about this prayer. I don't know what else to tell you. But when this room is as full for prayer as it is for every other expression of the Christian life, then I'll know that God is stirring in the hearts of people. I've asked Michael Gere, who as most of you know, has been a very devoted member of our church for a number of years. And just for those of you who don't know Mike, you can come on up now, Michael. He was the senior news producer at Channel 11 for a number of years, then left that job in the real prime of his career to go to CBN University to get his master's degree in public policy, and is now in the midst of committing the balance of his life to helping Christians be involved. And I'm going to ask Mike, number four and number five on that outline is what Mike's going to address, how to be informed and how to be involved. Thank you, Jay. I must say I appreciate the opportunity to speak in the church here. I know that churches up until recently really did not want to deal with this issue at all. How many people here have heard Amy sing, Amy Shearing, who just spoke a little bit before? Have you heard her voice and heard her sing? Just a few years ago, I was working with the CPC, and we were trying to get Amy to go to different churches and speak on the issue of abortion and the need for the CPC. And one pastor's response was, well, we'll let her talk about the CPC, but only if she promises to sing. And you had to have all sorts of enticements to get into churches and really deal with this issue. But things are changing, God is moving, and we know as a church we can't be asleep. Dr. Dobson has a phrase that he uses that I think will really wake people up. What he says is that we are involved in a war of values, and the spoils or the victor will get the next generation. The walls behind us here are your children and mine. They're the ones who we're fighting for. We may be fighting for a flag or for what we think God wants us to do, and we have to do all those things. But in the end, it's our children that we are really responsible for. We have an inheritance that we need to leave to them of freedom so that they can worship and live in freedom and peace. Quickly, I'd like if you could, or I'll just refer to Nehemiah, the book of Nehemiah. I'm going to chapter one. I want all of you here this morning to be Nehemiahs. And if you turn to there, you'll see what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, I can't sing like Amy, so I don't get the invitations like she does. Verse three, it says, And they said to me, these people came to Nehemiah to tell him what the trouble was. And they said to me, The remnant there in Jerusalem in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach, and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire. Now it came when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven. And what Nehemiah eventually did was go to that place, and he prayed to God, and he fasted, and then he started rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. And the way he did it was he did it by having people do the work in their own backyard. And that's the lesson I want to give to you this morning. And I have some things that you can do. We know about what's going on with the Supreme Court, but we feel like we can't do anything about it. We know what's going on in the halls of Congress, and we feel like we can't do anything about it. But the reality is, if you take what Nehemiah did, we can do things right here at home that will make a difference. And I have an outline here. First off, making a difference, I will soon be going to work for a new organization that's starting here in Pennsylvania that I'd like to tell you about, and it's called the Pennsylvania Family Institute. Now you may not know this, but there is no organization right now in the state of Pennsylvania that is doing anything of substance to really uphold family values in the state legislature and to let you know of issues that you need to be dealing with. How many of you have heard of, for instance, Project 10? Anyone here heard of Project 10? There's a school district in Los Angeles, and this is spreading to other school districts, and part of their curriculum, they tell students, this is high school and junior high school students, that one of 10 of them sitting in that classroom are homosexual, and they need to learn about it and find out their true reality about themselves, and that could be very welcoming to Pennsylvania. How many of you know that if your daughter is in school and becomes pregnant, goes to a school counselor, it is state law that they can send your daughter to an abortion clinic and never tell you about it. They are forbidden from telling you about it. Those are the laws that exist right now, but you can make a difference, and this Pennsylvania Family Institute, which you'll hear more about, we'll be working to let you know about these issues so that you can start rebuilding the wall in your backyard. There's another organization that started right here at North Way and in the North Hills. It's a national organization, but it's working with the schools right here in this area, and if you pull that down, it's called the Citizens for Excellence in Education. Now, my wife and I called the school board, or called a member of this organization to say, who should we vote for for North Allegheny School Board? We want to know, and they said, well, really, honestly, we could not find any real great candidates, but as a matter of fact, we went to a debate between candidates, and do you know what the prime topic of the debate was between, and what parents were concerned about, was will North Allegheny School District get an astroturf field? Now, we are responsible ourselves. We're the ones, it's our children who may be going to that school or to schools here, or even if they're not, our children will be growing up with kids who do go to that school, and so that's another way that you can be involved, be going to school board meetings, be involved in this organization. Then, lastly, there's an organization here that, two organizations actually, Citizens for Decency in Butler County, which some of you can be involved in, in dealing with pornography. They had a major victory in closing down a pornography shop in Butler that's gained national attention, and those of you that live in Butler, or Butler County, I urge you to get involved in that organization. Here in the Pittsburgh area, we can get involved in PCAPP, which is Pennsylvania Coalition Against Pornography, but in addition to that, there are just simple, real simple things that we should be involved in in our everyday life, and the first of those is voting, and what I'd like to do is take a little survey of the audience here and ask, Jay doesn't like me to embarrass you like this, but I'm going to do it anyway. I'd like to ask how many people here, if you'll raise your hand, how many of you can name your state legislator, your state senator, and your United States congressman? Can I see a show of hands? One, two, three, four, five, six, twelve. That's pretty good. I have heard a survey in most churches, it's usually about tw