Righteousness Exalts A Nation

RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTS A NATION

TXT: Prov 14:32-34 The wicked is banished in his wickedness, but the righteous has a refuge in his death. 33 Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding, but what is in the heart of fools is made known. 34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.

INTRO: May 2013 Gosnell Trial. Hid by media except Foxnews & very few other news sources. Gosnel was abortionist at abortion clinic dubbed a “House of Horrors”. Horrible what went on there. He was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree murder, as well as “211 counts of failing to comply with a state law that requires a 24-hour waiting period before an abortion is performed.” The facts read more like a demon’s resume than a description of a man sworn to heal. One former worker testified that she saw “a late-term baby who survived an abortion ‘swimming’ in a toilet and ‘trying to get out.’” Another child reportedly was big enough “that Gosnell joked it could have walked to the bus.” Child after child had life ended as scissors snipped spinal cords, decapitating them. This story was given only 51 sec in one news report and only after 56 days of the trial going on b/c abortion is the media darling, they will go through any length to circle the wagons to support a woman’s right to murder her own children.

May 2012 a bill that would ban sex-selective abortions failed to muster enough support to pass the House Thursday following a contentious debate. The final vote was 246-168. Though a majority voted in favor of the bill, this particular proposal required a two-thirds majority to pass -- supporters of the bill fell 30 votes short. The proposal would have made it a federal crime to carry out an abortion based on the gender of the fetus. The measure takes aim at the aborting of female fetuses, a practice more common to countries such India and China, where there is a strong preference for sons, but which is also thought to take place in the U.S. Bill never made it to Senate.

I. AMERICA’S NATIONAL SIN

1. National sin of America = abortion

a. This makes us a reproach & cries out for judgment

b. We are critical arrows in God’s hand at this time

2. God’s judgment in the past

a. Sodom & Gomorrah

Destruction was so complete that there is absolutely no sign it even existed – on tours to Israel only an empty plain there

b. Chorazin & Bethsaida

MT 11:20-22 Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you.

Illus. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands song

3. God really does have the whole world in His hands

a. The rise & fall of nations is based on their relationship with God

Is 2:4 He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people;

Micah 4:3 He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off;

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers - and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce - and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution - and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great. -Alexis de Tocqueville

b. Judah & Israel serve as object lessons for us today. Israel & Judah’s national sin = idolatry.

c. Everything about nation building is spiritual and linked to a nation’s relationship w/God

4. A nation w/ no relationship w/ God – heathens. America is becoming a heathen nation.

5. The solution is not being open-minded to different belief systems. Answer is not to become spiritual. only solution =Jesus.

II. DEALING WITH NATIONAL SIN

Illus. Over 53 million babies killed by abortion in U.S. from 1973 – present. Population of Burma 54million, S. Korea 48.9 million, South Africa 48.8 million.