INTRODUCTION
• SLIDE #1
• We live in a great if not the greatest nation to exist in the human history.
• The way the country gained its’ independence from one of the most powerful nations at the time lead by a man who lost many battles as the commander of the Continental Army it has to make one wonder how?
• How could the fledgling nation overcome insurmountable odds to become a free nation?
• It took people who understood it was it was time to stand.
• Taxation without representation, among other things caused our founding fathers to stand up to the tyranny of Britain.
• They were willing to suffer the loss of life, property and their person freedom to stand up of principles later articulated in the Declaration of Independence and later the Constitution and the Bill of Needs err, the Bill of Rights!
• Even though we had people willing to take a stand and fight for freedom, is that in itself enough to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds that faced them as they stepped up to fight?
• I think not. It is not only the willingness to stand but it is also who you stand with that matters!
• John Adams (SIGNER OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE; JUDGE; DIPLOMAT; ONE OF TWO SIGNERS OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS; SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES) states in a letter to Thomas Jefferson on June 28, 1813:
• The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. 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.
• John Quincy Adams, in An Oration Delivered Before the Inhabitants of the Town of Newburyport at Their Request on the Sixty-First Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1837 stated:
• In the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior. The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
• I can feed you quotes ALL day long, but let’s get to where we are going today.
• I really hate to say this but as great as our nation has been, we are in trouble, mounting debt, a sharp decline in morality, according to statistics from the CDC 40.8% of children are now born to unmarried women.
• Rising prison populations, the continued destruction of the family by a government who is trying to take the place of the father.
• We have ILLEGAL immigration issues; we have a Supreme Court who seems to be getting away from the rule of law to trying to win popularity contests.
• It breaks my heart; I could go on and on.
• SO we have issues, what do we do about it? If you like where we are headed, it is easy, do nothing, keep electing the same folks who helped create the mess.
• To me that is not acceptable, I am thankful the founding fathers saw fit to take a stand, and today is the day for you to stand.
• We are going to look at Psalm 119:41-48. We do not know the author of this Psalm though some would suggest the author to be Ezra.
• Coincidences between the language of the text and the history of Ezra's time hint that this great scribe may have been the writer. Old Testament Survey Series, The - The Old Testament Survey Series – The Wisdom Literature and Psalms.
• In this Psalm I see a call to action. If you feel we are heading down the path to ruin, it is time for you to do something; sitting on the sidelines will no longer cut it.
• I pray we will all be stirred to action!
• Let’s begin with verses 41-43!
• SLIDE #2
• Psalm 119:41–43 (ESV) 41 Let your steadfast love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise; 42 then shall I have an answer for him who taunts me, for I trust in your word. 43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules.
• SLIDE #3
SERMON
America now is…
I. A time to stand up to society. (41-43)
• The Psalmist begins this section of the lengthy Psalm be talking about the love of God.
• The Psalmist in is inviting God’s love to come to him along with inviting the promised salvation.
• The Psalmist is longing for deliverance!
• Now he takes the thought to the next level, the Psalmist wants to be able to bear witness to the great love God has to others.
• This is where verses 42-43 come in.
• He wants to have an answer for those who taunt him; he is asking that God does not take His word out of the Psalmist mouth.
• Before we can have an answer for those who taunt us we need to be grounded in God’s love lest we start to see those who oppose us as the enemy instead of victims of the enemy.
• SLIDE #4
• 2 Corinthians 5:14 (ESV) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
• The church has lost a lot of influence because we are afraid to take a stand for what we believe in, but not only have we lost the spine to stand, we have to be careful not to be mean spirited in how we stand up to society.
• We need to make sure we love the sinner and hate the sin. When we get that messed up, it is ruin out opportunity to make an impact.
• Christians have let the society run out of control and that is sad. It is not our job to MAKE people become Christians, but society needs some foundation for the rule of law, it needs some foundation for morality.
• If you take God out of the foundation, then whose foundation do you build morality upon?
• During the days of the Judges the nation of Israel struggled with the issue of what foundation they were going to build their morality from.
• SLIDE #5
• Judges 17:6 (ESV) In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
• The almost exact same passage is used later in Judges in Judges 21:25
• When society goes in that direction, society will spiral out of control as it has time and time again throughout history. We are not immune to that same scenario in the United States!
• During the time of the Judges Israel went through a vicious cycle of SIN, SERVITUDE, SUPPLICATION, and SALVATION. EXPLAIN!
• The nation would fall unto sin, God will allow them to be enslaved, then after a few decades of slavery, the nation would repent, and then God would send a Judge to deliver them.
• Then after 3 or 4 decades of peace the cycle would repeat itself.
• The problem with allowing things to be done with popular vote is this…
• SLIDE #6
• Proverbs 21:2 (ESV) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.
• Popularity is how we got racism, slavery and other terrible things. Those did not come from God!
• Christians, if we do not realize it is TIME TO STAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, then who will?
• We are too busy wanting to be popular than to stand for what is right, to stand for what we say we believe in, we cannot pick and choose what we want to stand for.
• God’s Word is not a buffet in which we fill out plates with what we like and pass by what we do not like or might be difficult for us to digest.
• SLIDE #7
• Romans 1:32 (ESV) Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
• We need to with ALL the LOVE of JESUS we can muster, stand up to society and lovingly try to guide them back to the principles of God’s Word!
• Folks we are NOT helping people by giving hearty approval to their sin, we are encouraging them down the path to hell.
• Is that love? Is that showing compassion? I will let your house burn with you in it because I know you do not like to be woken up early.
• In the name of compassion and tolerance, we are filling the line to hell with people we supposedly love and care for.
• It is time to lovingly stand up to society.
• Now let us look at verses 44-45, they will give us more insight as to why we are losing influence.
• SLIDE #8
• Psalm 119:44–45 (ESV) 44 I will keep your law continually, forever and ever, 45 and I shall walk in a wide place, for I have sought your precepts.
• SLIDE #9
America now is…
II. A time to stand up for Jesus in the way you live life. (44-45)
• The Psalmist in these two verses describes how he will live his life.
• He commits to keeping God’s law continually, until the day he dies and that he shall walk in the wide place because he was seeking God’s precepts.
• Verse 45 when the Psalmist speaks of the wide place, he is referring to the FREEDOM he will enjoy by following God.
• Would you like to be free from guilt, free from the bondage of sin?
• SLIDE #10
• John 8:34–36 (ESV) 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
• If we allow ourselves to be enslaved to sin folks will not take out message with any degree of seriousness.
• IF we are just like the world around us, then we try to tell them about Jesus, they will laugh at us thinking that if Jesus is so important to us why are we no different than any of their friends?
• Folks the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian has to be more than just church, Jesus has to be making an impact in our lives.
• People need to see that transformation process play out in your life!
• Let your light shine, others will see and be impacted.
• Let’s look at verse 46.
• SLIDE #11
• Psalm 119:46 (ESV) I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame,
• SLIDE #12
America now is…
III. A time to stand up to government leaders. (46)
• The founding father stood up to the King and then later fought the crown. They stood unafraid of the consequences because they knew the cause was just.
• Folks. We do NOT have a King running the United States of America, we have a President, and a congress and a Supreme Court.
• The Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of government.
• We have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
• It is time for Christians to stand up and say ENOUGH!
• Enough debt, enough throwing money away on the religion of global warming (or redefined as climate change)
• WE need to tell the courts to get back to the rule of law instead be trying to win political points and we need to tell congress to quit eroding our rights and freedoms.
• The Psalmist says he will speak God’s testimonies before kings without being put to shame.
• We need to unapologetically stand on the Gospel of Jesus! We need to stand on the gospel unashamed!
• What are we doing when a convicted gets re-elected in Illinois, and I bet when he gets out he will run and win.
• In New York City they look like they will elect a mayor who left congress in disgrace because he has no sense.
• Christians it is time to say enough! WE need to stand on the gospel.
• We have power at the ballot box, our founders fought and died so we could elect officials, but these folks live like kings and they act like kings and we are too pre-occupied with what happens on American Idol or the Voice to care.
• We should not stand for being silenced; we are still supposed to have freedom of speech. WE had a valedictorian in Texas threatened by the school because he MENTIONED his faith?
• Every official in the school who had a hand in that along with the threats to his Naval Academy appointment should have been removed, but nothing will happen.
• Our faith is not to be silenced!
• Maybe if we held public officials accountable for what they do they would stop doing it.
• Martha Stewart went to prison for what happens every day in congress. SAD!
• We have a right to peaceably stand up to government and then we have the right to vote them out!
• Congress, U. S. House Judiciary Committee, 1854
• Had the people, during the Revolution, had a suspicion of any attempt to war against Christianity, that Revolution would have been strangled in its cradle... In this age, there can be no substitute for Christianity... That was the religion of the founders of the republic and they expected it to remain the religion of their descendants.
• Let’s conclude with verses 47-48
• SLIDE #13
• Psalm 119:47–48 (ESV) 47 for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love. 48 I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
• SLIDE #!4
America now is…
IV. A time to stand up and enjoy your life in Christ! (47-48)
• It is easy to be perpetually upset at what is happening around us.
• The Psalmist reminds us that he finds delight in God’s commands, that he loves them.
• As we live life, we always need to put things in perspective.
• God wants us to enjoy living for Him; we can experience true joy in Him!
CONCLUSION
• I want to conclude with the opening of the Declaration of Independence. It gives us all something to think about. This is what people fought and died for and still fight and die for. Let us honor them by Standing up!
• When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitles them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
• That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
• That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.
