The Foundations of Our Nation

If you have your Bibles this morning, I want to turn to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

Deuteronomy chapter 6, good to have Brian back from Hawaii.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

He showed up this morning in his swimsuit.

I said, Hoss, you got to go home and change your clothes.

I'm glad he's here.

Toronto bunch, missed a flight on the way back

and spent nine hours in Detroit and made it out alive

and got back in the middle of the night.

If you see somebody nod off, they might have been in Toronto yesterday

because they got home about 3 o'clock, I believe, this morning.

After a long day, we got a group of eight of us going to South Dakota on Friday.

I encourage you to be in prayer for us as we go

and try to help Dakota Sunshine as they minister to Native Americans there in South Dakota.

Need opportunity and look forward to it.

We live in the land of opportunity.

I mean, the home of the brave, the place of the American dream, and we are living it.

We're so in love with ourselves and our wants that we get it,

whether we need it or not, whether we can afford it or not.

We want it now.

It's a microwave society.

Everybody's right.

Nobody's at fault.

It's always somebody else's.

And there are no absolutes.

I'm not talking about us.

I'm talking about everybody else, you know.

We're not like that.

So much of what America's become.

We're ruining the greatest society, the most prosperous nation,

the greatest of opportunities,

and instead the world laughs.

Laughs as we seem to be turning to a godless, lawless, impoverished wasteland,

so filled with a hedonistic desire for more that we're losing what we have.

If sin's a slippery slope, and it is,

America's kind of like the Merle Haggard song, the great theologian Merle Haggard,

who sang,

rolling downhill like a snowball headed to hell.

I mean, really.

I really believe that so much of what's happening in America is ruining so much of what God's given us.

And I say we seem to be turning that way because, listen,

everybody's not parading in the streets.

Everybody's not embracing the culture.

Everybody's not doing those things.

Seems like it if you turn the news on.

I told you, don't spend more time in the news than you do in God's Word.

Okay?

It needs to be a discipline in our life.

Not only to read more of God's Word, but watch less of the news, honestly, you know.

Because we'll get festered up by all this stuff if you watch too much of it.

I mean, you do.

I could have got festered up yesterday, but instead I got blistered up, I think.

It was so hot.

But some are seeing that the pendulum has swung way too far to the left.

And they're rising up, and they're speaking to it, and they ought to.

However, even with that resistance, history tells us that we're a land

we'll end up a land more left than we were before.

History tells us that.

Not to say we have to live up to history.

I used to be concerned about the world that my grandkids would be raised in.

Now I'm trying to figure out how to guide my ever-growing children

through the swamp of debauchery that we're wading through as a nation.

But I got it figured out.

At least I think I got it figured out.

I didn't come up with it.

I just decided once again to trust God's Word in the matter.

Just trust Him.

I want to read a passage in just a few moments that you've heard me read

many times over the last year.

Every time I dedicate, we dedicate.

Actually, the parents dedicate their child to the Lord,

and I'm able to be a part of that.

I at least refer to this passage if I don't read this passage.

I believe it's the foundation of a Christian home

as it was the foundations of a Hebrew home when it was first penned.

And I believe it reminds us of our foundation, and I'll show you why.

May this ring in our hearts and our minds

as strong as it did in those that first heard it.

Deuteronomy chapter 6, beginning in verse 1.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

And it says this.

Now, this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules

that the Lord your God commanded you to teach you,

that you may do them in the land to which you're going over to possess it,

that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your sons and your sons' sons,

by keeping all His statutes and His commands,

which I command you all the days of your life,

and that your days may be long.

Hear, therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them,

that it may go well with you,

and that you may multiply greatly as the Lord, the God of your fathers,

has promised you in a land flowing with milk and honey.

Hear, O Israel, the Lord, our God, the Lord is one.

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your might.

These words that I command you today shall be upon your heart.

You shall teach them diligently to your children,

and you shall talk of them when you sit in your house

and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise.

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand,

and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.

You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates.

Again, I speak of this often.

I think we all need to be reminded of it.

But I want you to notice in this passage when it says

how to teach them diligently to your children.

Talk about them when you sit at the house.

Talk about them when you walk by the way.

That means when you're in the car, driving.

Talk about it.

At night when you lie down.

In the morning when you rise up.

But when it says bind them as signs on your hand,

Jews take that literally and tie pieces of the law,

put it in a leather box,

phylacteries, and tie them around their arms

so they can hold on to that.

That's not what it's talking about.

It's talking about let the law of the Lord,

let the statutes of God be so prevailing in your life

that the things in which you do with your hands,

let it reflect what you believe and what you live by.

The frontlets on your eyes, let you be so focused.

Like frontlets on a horse's eyes,

trying to make sure they stay toward their destination.

Keep your eyes focused on what they need to be focused on.

And the door front post of your house is not talking about

good Christian art in a home,

although there's nothing wrong with that,

but you can have all the Christian arts you want to.

You can say, ask for me in my house

and fight like dogs underneath the picture.

You know, I mean, that's not what that means.

It means mark your home

with the statutes of the Lord,

with the love of God.

But those words that I just read

once could not be read

because they were blocked

because a man had his hand on top of it.

And it was a man named George Washington.

And upon his swearing in,

George Washington placed his hand on an open Bible

on Deuteronomy chapter six

and made an oath to the Lord

as his fingers touched this very passage.

Does that surprise you?

I'm sure the forefathers of our nation

did not intend for our laws to be interpreted

as they are today.

The men that founded our nation

then were not like many of the men and women

that lead us today.

The few good, godly leaders that we have

are fighting for all that they can.

So how do we respond to,

because I'm not a doomsday guy.

That's not me at all, okay?

I believe the Lord lives and praise God.

We ought to show some joy because of it, okay?

So I don't want you to misunderstand me.

But how do we respond when we see what's happening

in the circumstances of our nation?

As Christians, how are we to respond?

Well, I'm going to give you three ways.

I'm not saying that it's exhaustive.

I'm saying these are three ways that we can respond.

One is to understand the foundation of this nation.

To understand the foundation of our nation.

I've been doing some genealogy recently.

We needed a date, and we were looking for a particular date

in our family's history.

And in order to find that, I went on Ancestry.com,

and man, another leaf came up.

You know, if you don't know what I'm talking about, don't do it.

I'm just telling you, you know?

So, and I knew I had some kind of relation,

but didn't know what it was, so I found out,

so I got to announce it, you know?

I found out that my great, great, great,

how many did I say?

Great grandpa was the chief justice

of the South Carolina State Court,

a governor of South Carolina,

and was going to take John Jay's place

as the second chief justice of the Supreme Court,

but got up and said something in the speech

that I haven't investigated yet.

I got a feeling he said something stupid.

I know my family, but I'm not sure.

Maybe he was right, but he got voted down.

He did not get chief justice of the Supreme Court,

and oh well.

I also found out, and I've been hanging my hat on this.

It's been opening doors for me for all my life.

I've got a great, great, great grand uncle.

Didn't even know uncles were grand,

but a great, great, great grand uncle

that was the youngest one

to sign the Declaration of Independence,

and was also a governor in South Carolina.

I got Rutledge in my blood,

and so, you know,

here it is.

That's all I can say.

Somewhere there was a disconnect.

I don't know where it was,

but somewhere along the line,

somebody between my great, great, greats

dropped the ball.

That's all I got to say, but anyway.

Did you know that some of the men

who signed the Declaration of Independence

declaring our commitment

to break ties with Great Britain

were also men of God

that were responsible for founding

the American Bible Society?

Do you know that those men

were some of the men

that established the American Tract Society?

That they were a part

of the Philadelphia Bible Society?

There's a fallacy out there

that I want to try to clarify today.

Many times our founding fathers

are made out to be deist,

and some of them I'm sure were,

but all of them wasn't.

Let me explain what a deist is.

It's those who believe

that God created the earth,

set it in order,

and then left it.

That he does not value

a relationship with us.

They believe in a creator God,

but they don't believe

that he interacts with us.

They don't think that's possible.

They believe that after creation,

God took his hand off the earth.

A deist believes

that we can't commune with God,

that we need to have

no relationship with God,

and that he's simply

a cosmic creator

with no relation

or concern for our world.

And so I want to ask you this morning,

do these men sound like deists?

Patrick Henry said this,

it cannot be emphasized

too strongly or too often

that this great nation

was founded

not by religionists,

which would be deists,

but by Christians.

Not on religions,

but on the gospel

of Jesus Christ.

John Adams,

our second president,

when speaking of the

general principles

on which the fathers

achieved independence,

said,

I will avow

that I then believed

and now believe

that those general principles

of Christianity

are as eternal

and immutable

as the existence

and attributes of God,

and that those principles

of liberty

are as unalterable

as human nature.

They believed

our leaders

ought to be men

that love the Lord Jesus.

Benjamin Franklin said,

he who shall introduce

into public affairs

the principles

of Christianity

will change

the face of the world.

John Quincy Adams,

the sixth president,

said the highest glory

of the American Revolution

was this,

it connected

in one indissolvable bond

the principles

of civil government

and the principles

of Christianity.

Now sadly,

if you listen today,

that bond

is dissolving.

People don't want us

to have that kind

of bond,

but that was not

what our nation

was founded on.

Noah Webster,

who was responsible

for,

have you ever heard

of the Webster's Dictionary?

Old boy had a vocabulary

probably.

He said this,

the religion

which has introduced

civil liberty,

civil liberty,

you ever heard that word?

Those words?

Listen to this.

The religion

which has introduced

civil liberty

is the religion

of Christ

and his apostles,

which enjoins humility,

piety,

and benevolence,

which acknowledges

in every person

a brother,

a sister,

a citizen

with equal rights.

This is the genuine

Christianity

and to this Christianity

we owe our free

constitution

of government.

Eat that up,

ACLU.

That's not at all

what we ought

to be founded on.

These wise men

understood that liberty

is about Christ.

In 1796

the Supreme Court

of Maryland

said this,

the Supreme Court

of Maryland,

by our form of government

the Christian religion

is the established

religion

and all sects

and denominations

of Christians

are placed

upon the same

equal footing

and are equally

entitled

to protection

in their liberty.

I'm going to read

that again

because I want you

to see the connection

here, okay?

By our form of government

the Christian religion

is the established

religion

and all sects

and denominations

of Christians

are placed

upon the same

equal footing

and are equally

entitled

to protection

in their liberty.

It is upon

that thought

that the first

amendment was added

but did you get

why it was added?

The first amendment

was added

to make sure

one Christian denomination

did not rise

above another

Christian denomination.

the assumption

was

that Christianity

was a given

and in the beginning

of this nation

there was no conflict

with the first amendment

and having Washington

lay his hand

on the Bible

open to

Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

There were no conflicts

with having

chaplains of Congress

lead the worship service

that concluded

Washington's inauguration.

Listen to this

there was no conflict

with supporting

ministers and missionaries

with federal money

for the first

100 years

of our nation.

I think times

have changed.

In 1781

a publisher

petitioned Congress

for permission

to print Bibles.

Congress approved

that petition

and stated

the Congress

of the United States

approves

and recommends

to the people

the Holy Bible

for use

in schools.

When it was challenged

in the Supreme Court

the Supreme Court

responded

don't you thank God

for the Supreme Court?

Don't you thank God

for the Supreme Court?

If you ain't watching

the news

my soul

you ought to be thankful

because it makes

a difference.

Why not the Bible

and especially

the New

this is the Supreme Court

why not the Bible

and especially

the New Testament

be read and taught

as a divine revelation

in the schools?

Where can the purest

principles of morality

be learned so clearly

and so perfectly

as from

the New Testament?

That's the Supreme Court

of the United States.

State of Delaware's

Constitution

of 1776

said this

everyone appointed

to public office

must say

I do profess

faith in God

the Father

and in the Lord

Jesus Christ

his Holy Son

and in the Holy Ghost

one God

blessed forevermore

and I do acknowledge

the Holy Scriptures

of the Old

and New Testament

to be given

by divine inspiration.

John Jay

that first

Chief Justice

of the U.S.

Supreme Court

one of the

main contributors

to the Constitution

stated this way

he said Providence

speaking of God

Providence has given

to our people

the choice

of their rulers

and it is the duty

as well as the privilege

and interest

of our Christian nation

to select

and prefer

Christians

for their rulers.

He went on

to write

the right

to hold office

was to be extended

to persons

of any Christian

denomination.

my friend

what's wrong

with America

today

is simple

we've lost

our first love

that's what it amounts

to

and I don't mean

to bad mouth America

I don't want to live

anywhere else

okay

but I want you

to know this morning

what it could be

what if presidents

still placed their hand

over a well read

Bible

in Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6

and made it

the practice

of their life

what if all

of Washington

did that

what a difference

that would make

so where do we

go from here

well I believe

you need to understand

the foundation

of our nation

and look

in all this

eradication

of history

when we find out

that

men made

bad decisions

and did wrong

things

didn't take away

from the good

they did

didn't take away

from the difference

that they made

to establish

this country

in the way

that it should be

we need learn

from history

not erase it

and not change it

but learn from it

we need to understand

the foundation

of our nation

second thing

and more importantly

is we need to pray

for the future

of our nation

we need to go

to our knees

we have no choice

I don't care

if you agree

with them or not

your prayer life

is not to consist

of those

that you only

dearly love

if you'll pray

for those

that you don't like

God will change

your heart

I mean

he could see

those curveballs

now

you know

I mean

every time

I say

Lord

man

I wish

you'd straighten

that old boy

out

because I'm sure

wanting to

you know

I ain't ever

said that

about anybody

in Pickens

but

people from

other places

God always

starts working

on me

to change

my attitude

about that

I want you to

listen to what

1 Timothy

1 Timothy 2:1–4

chapter 2

verse 1

through 4

says

first of all

then I urge

you that

supplications

prayers

intercessions

and thanksgivings

be made for

all people

for kings

and all those

who are in

high positions

American translation

that means

president

that we may

lead a peaceful

and quiet life

godly and dignified

in every way

this is good

and it is pleasing

in the sight of God

our Savior

who desires

all people

to be saved

and to come

to the knowledge

of the truth

pray for those

who lead us

pray for our

lives

that our lives

won't get in the

way of God

doing a work

in them

pray that

we are

peaceful people

what a difference

it will make

when we pray

for God's

leadership

in our land

I mean

look

we live in a day

when it's time

to throw up

our hands

but it's not

throw up our

hands in disgust

but throw up

our hands

to God

and turn to him

and ask him

to intervene

ask him to move

our word

to pray for the

future of our

nation

and then we also

ought to share

the hope of our

nation

Jesus said

in Matthew

28

18-20

that we need

to make

disciples

in Jerusalem

Judea

Samaria

and the

uttermost

because we

have a story

to tell

trust the

power of the

gospel

and share

it

I had a

unique privilege

yesterday

I'm

appreciative

for it

I got to

leave the

opening prayer

at the

Trump rally

yesterday

little did I

know that

the news

programs that

were covering

it was also

going to keep

a camera on me

and my family

y'all know

this they keep

a camera on us

for the rest

of the program

when we were

burning up and

dying and

going please

just stop

what some of

y'all are

looking at me

like that's

what you're

thinking now

you know

I got some

time but I

ain't taking it

all so

you know

I want to

be clear

about something

I don't know

whether you're

going to like

what I say

or not

you know

if our

president's

office called

and asked me

to lead a

prayer for a

function that

he was going

to be at

I would have

done it

because I

respect the

office of

the president

of the

United States

and I

believe it's

our job as

Christians to

be hospitable

to others

and to do

whatever we

can

we were

willing to

open our

doors of

this church

and would

have been

for any

political

purposes as

far as that

is concerned

for hospitality

not for

political

purposes but

for hospitality

that when

people got

too hot

I don't

know how

much it

was used

but when

they got

too hot

and there

was a bunch

of them

including me

that people

got too hot

and needed

relief they

could come to

our fellowship

hall and find

relief

chairs were

set up

medics were

there to

provide that

opportunity

and I was

asked is it

okay for us

to use it

we didn't

know if

Donald Trump

was going to

need the room

or if people

who were too

hot was going

to need the

room it

didn't matter

I said it

really don't

matter it's a

matter of

hospitality

that's what the

Christian church

is about

it's about

being hospitable

and I enjoyed

the rally

until I nearly

passed out

but

but

my hope

is not in

Donald Trump

I'll vote

when presidential

elections come

along and I'll

vote for the

person that I

agree with the

most that I

think will do

the best for

what this

country ought

to stand for

but I'm not

placing my

hope in a

ballot box

folks

don't hear me

say that you're

not supposed to

vote

you need to

vote

you better

vote

don't let me

find out you

don't vote

but don't you

dare place your

hope in a ballot

box

because I think

we found out

that all the

leadership of our

country is somewhat

frail in some

areas of some

way or another

it seems

right

we're just

fallible people

and it's easy to

point fingers at

them but hey

let's look in the

mirror first

you know

but for the

grace of God

there go I

my hope is in

Jesus Christ

period

that's the only

place we are to

place our hope

and let us never

get mixed up

and misunderstand

that there's

choices we can

make that are

better than

others

and I'm not

going to talk

about that here

but if you ask

me I'll tell you

okay

but that's not

where I place my

hope

this is not my

home

this ain't all

there is friend

I'm going to

glory

and I'm going to

be skinny and

buff

you know

but after that

meal I probably

won't be

trust the power

of the gospel

and share it

well preacher I

can't do it

you're exactly

right you can't

do it nor can

I

the gospel

doesn't

God works

through the

gospel

he changes

lives

and if you

have no burden

to reach your

neighbor or the

world

pray about it

pray about it

rock of ages

a wonderful song

I want you to

listen to the

words of the

rock of ages

rock of ages

cleft for me

let me hide

myself in thee

let the water

and the blood

from thy wounded

side which flow

be of sin

the double cure

save from wrath

and make me pure

not the labor

of my hands

can fulfill

thy laws

commands

could my zeal

no respite

no

could my tears

forever flow

all for sin

could not

atone

thou must save

and thou alone

nothing in my

hand I bring

simply to the

cross I cling

naked come to

thee my

for dress

helpless look

to thee for

grace

foul eye

to the fountain

fly

wash me

savior

or I die

while I draw

this fleeting

breath

when my

eyes shall

close in

death

when I

soar

to worlds

unknown

see thee

on

thy

judgment

throne

rock

of ages

clear

for me

let me

hide

myself

in thee

may the

foundation

of our

nation

rest upon

the rock

of the

Lord Jesus

Christ

because my

friend I'm

firmly convinced

that's where

we started

and we

need not

leave it

not for our

nation

and not for

our individual

lives

with every head

bowed and

every eye

closed

I believe the

answer is the

gospel of Jesus

Christ and if

you're here this

morning and

you've never

surrendered your

life to the

Lord Jesus

Christ

never ask him

to cleanse

you never ask

him to forgive

you of your

sins to come

into your life

and to change

you today's the

day of salvation

he'll change you

today we'll stand

in just a moment

and we'll sing but

more importantly

than that you need

to obey God

step out you

come to me and

say pastor I

need to be saved

I'd love to lead

man you'd make my

day that leads

you in knowing

what it means to

have a personal

relationship with

Christ maybe you're

here and you do

have a personal

relationship with

Christ but man

there's things

mixed up in your

life it ain't

right you need to

get it right come

to this altar and

make it right

stay where you are

and make it right

come to me and

ask me to pray for

you and let's make

it right you know

whatever it takes

whatever you need

you just obey God

you just do what

God tells you to do

you may have made

a private decision

and ask the Lord

Jesus into your

heart and change

to change your

life but you've

never told anybody

about that you

never made that

public today make

it public you come

for baptism we're

lining up a special

opportunity for

baptism coming up

and so I I

encourage you if God

has done that in

your life you come

for that or maybe

God's drawing you to

this congregation you

know this is where

you are to place your

life and to serve you

come alongside us

we'll stick to the

word of God we'll

try our best to serve

the Lord in our

community and in the

world as God gives

us opportunity just

obey God today this

day won't be what it

ought to be if you

don't obey the Lord

right now so let him

have his will and his

way heavenly father

I love you and thank

you for the opportunity

to be here today the

opportunity to share

your gospel without

restraint dear father I

don't have to couch my

words don't have to

wonder whether what I

say is true I can

rest in the gospel of

Jesus Christ saving

all who will come to

him God I pray today

that you'll lead us

right now to just

simply be obedient and

follow your will and

your way in Jesus name

amen

so here's an help to be

is

you