Psalm 107:23-31 “Those
who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the
works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He commands
and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They
mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths; their soul melts
because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, And are at their wits’ end. Then they cry out to the Lord in
their trouble, and He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm,
so that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired
haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to
the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works
to the children of men!”
Our Wednesday night small group Bible study has been studying the establishment and foundation of America through a video series by the late Pastor D. James Kennedy. In this session, Dr. Kennedy revealed that America’s greatest hero, the
one who did the most for our freedom and the establishment of a Christian
nation here than anyone else, is God – the often forgotten One. God determined
here to establish a Christian nation. If He had not determined that, we would
not have one.
We are not fatalist, who do
not believe in “second causes”. We believe in the Divine sovereignty of God and
His providence. There is a great difference. Fatalism does not believe in
“second causes”, acknowledging only God. But, whether we realize it or not, we
are a second cause. God is the “first cause”. Secondly, instead of falling into
the arms of a loving God, fatalism is like falling into the impersonal cogs of
a great machine. Christians believe that God is the sovereign Ruler of the
world, that His purposes stand and that He can do them all. Nobody can stay His
hand or say to Him: “What are you doing?” God is the Ruler still of Heaven and
Earth, and His purposes will come to pass. He purposed to establish a Christian
nation here on these shores between two great oceans.
Now there are people who
would question that statement, that this nation was established as a Christian
country. But, in 1892, this question came before the U.S. Supreme Court in the
case of Church of the Holy Trinity vs. United States. They examined every known
document concerning the formation of America for ten years. The High Court
voted unanimously that this is a Christian nation. And this has been confirmed
many times since. Just look at the historical aspects of America’s formation.
In 1776, the population of this country was 98% Protestant Christians, 1.8%
Roman Catholic Christians and .2% Jewish. That means that 99.8% of the
population in America professed to be Christians on Independence Day. This is a
Christian nation.
How did we come to be that
way? God orchestrated with a little history: in 490 B.C., the Persian Empire
conquered the known world. The massive Persian army attacked Greece’s much
smaller army, but God brought heavy rains which bogged down the armored Persian
army, while the light Greek army overtook and won the battle. The Greek army sent (the now famous) Marathon runner to
Athens with the message of victory, and he dropped dead after the 26 mile sprint.
Ten years later, the Persian Empire mounted another attack of Greece, this time
by sea. But, God brought a storm again that sank 200 Persian war vessels. If
Persia succeeded in either attack
against Greece, then we would most likely be a “Zoroastrian” today. You may
have never heard of “Zoroastrianism”, but it was the world’s great religion 500
years before Christ. But, we are not Zoroastrian because God places His feet
upon the waves and rides on the storm.
Let's continue this message on America's greatest hero in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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