"Our Christian Heritage" By Brother Parrish Lee July 6th,
2014
Last
week it was, I saw the I
said all of that into give a little respect, a little reverence to this great
nation that God has given us. But if I
could take a thought for just a moment, I would like to speak a little about
our theme for the month. Our theme for
the month is, "A Month Of Encouragement". And our Scripture for the month is from Luke
22:32. Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith
fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. There
was a time when the Lord was talking to his disciples. And he went on to describe with them the
relationship that a leader in God has with those that he may lead. He told him that if he were going to be chiefest
among them, he would be servant of all. And
he told them again because they have continued with some through the thick and
the thin, they would also be appointed a kingdom. And then the Lord turned and looked at Peter,
and said how Satan desired to sift him as wheat. Now I'm not a farmer or anything, and I can't
say that I have ever kneaded a loaf of bread—but I understand when you sift
something you are making sure that you break it down to its most minute
particles. In other words to quote a
nursery rhyme, all the kings horses and all the kings men would not be able to
put it together again. Anyone
hearing this news would have to be discouraged, challenged, wondering what they
were going to do, if Satan was going to personally make them a target. And then the Lord said that He had prayed for
them that his faith would not fail, and when he would be converted to
strengthen his brothers. Many
of us have had situations in our life that had been challenging, discouraging. Especially after becoming a Christian, many
of us have had battles where we understood who our enemy was. And some of the battles have been so intense,
we just haven't wanted to fight any big ones anymore. Christians have been challenged when losing a
job, when having an illness come upon them or their family, when just even
being in the church and it seems like no one cares. A death in our family, trouble with children
or parents. Christians are not exempt
from fighting such battles. But I am
here to report that no matter what you go through, or when you go through it,
God has got your back. You
know, we have to look at Christianity in our nation, or to say it another way,
our Christian heritage. And we have to
be able to be thankful for what God has brought to our nation. We have to go to the Scriptures and we see
that we have obligation to support our nation.
I was listening to the radio some time ago and it was Christian radio
and I heard the announcer say that the president was not their president, it
was the president for everybody else but not for them. And in case you're wondering it wasn't our
current president—point is, they don't have a Scripture to stand on. 1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.
Honour the king. One
of the things we as Christians have to realize if God knows how to take care of
our nation, if He knows how to take care of our country, if God is had the
foresight to put things in place where our nation has been subject to so many
wars, in so many conflicts, so many issues, and God has brought us thus far—we need
to put our trust in His hands and other words if He can take care of our nation
for over 200 years, then surely He can take care of us for a lifetime. Freedom
has always been an expensive thing. I
had a conflict in my life many years ago.
When I got saved, I was in the military.
And the question have imposed me, as the Bible says thou shalt not kill
(Exodus 20:13); then how can you be in the military and a Christian at the same
time? Of course He says that in the Old
Testament, and the New Testament, it says, if you're angry with your brother
without a cause you are in danger of the judgment (Matthew 5:22). And so I had a conflict on being a Christian,
and being in the military. Because you
see Saints I just wanted to serve God. You
see, we have to be thankful for God's wisdom and understanding and instruction. We have to be thankful for His Word. We see our Lord and Savior shared with
soldiers at that time. And I am sure
they themselves were in conflict looking for the answer to the same question. Even David himself, he being a man of war,
had similar conviction. But you could
beg to ask, if David killed so many, why was one more such a terrible sin? The
Bible says to render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's and render unto
God the things which be God's (Mark 12:17).
So often we have to realize is that the thoughts and intents of the
heart is what the Lord and spirit discerned out. Should we be in the military; is it okay? The
Bible says to render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's. War, military conflict, many times we are put
in situations that are uncomfortable and unpleasant yet necessary. But what about just going out and shooting
somebody? The Bible says that the Word is a discerner (Hebrews 4:12), so God
cares about what we think about where our heart is. This means that mode as is intrinsically
connected to what we do. In other words,
why we do what we do is important
also. This
brings me to another point. It doesn't
matter who's in control in our wonderful nation. Of course in this country, we have two parties
who basically have control of our government.
My responsibility is the same: pray for those in power. And you know why we are obligated to pray for
them? It's because Christians know the One with the real power. We have only to look at the news on TV
tonight to see that there are some places that are trying to take over their
government. Some are religious groups
that want to take over their nation, some a different political affiliation. What ever the case, it is they that know God,
and asked Him that can change a nation. John 17:9-11 I pray for them: I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine;
and I am glorified in them. And now I am
no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name
those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. Our
Lord and Savior, while on this Earth, prayed for us and told us that we belong
to Him. He told us that He would be
glorified in us, and that we would be kept in the name of the Father. And He told us that we would be one with Him. I don't know how that makes you feel this
morning but I come to tell you there is no greater security than to be kept by
God. No greater warm fuzzy, no greater
peace, no greater joy... I myself am not
one of those touchy-feely people that has to have that acknowledgment of
affection through touch. But there was a
time in my life when I was young that there was no greater confirmation of
being loved then for my parents, or relatives to hold their arms out and pulled
me to them, and give me one of those rib cracking hugs. I'm sure we have a witness in the house here
this morning. There is just something
about when someone means love to you and goes in a way to express it that you
can receive. So isn't it great to have
the Lord tell us that not only would He be glorified in us, but that we would
be kept by Him and one with Him. Many
of our brothers and sisters here have gone to the conference in Psalms 118:24 This is the day
which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
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