Peter Marshall spoke Sunday to the Master's - Adult Bible Fellowship. What an exciting time as he describe the true vision of why the United States States exists in the purpose of God. We are to be a visible example of what the Kingdom of God is to look like. We are made up of Men and women from every tribe, tongue and nation on earth.Said Rev. Marshall: "This nation was founded by God with a special calling. The people who first came here knew that they were being led here by the Lord Jesus Christ, to found a nation where men, women, and children were to live in obedience to Him. . . .This was truly to be one nation under God." To make his point, he quoted from Columbus' then-unpublished spiritual journal and from the sermons and diaries of the Pilgrims and Puritans."
Obviously, the Church is not impacting our society as it should. We have lost America's moral and spiritual foundations. The Bible says: "If the foundations be destroyed, what shall the righteous do?" Good question! What indeed are we going to do?
I have two answers to that question. First, we must recover the original American vision, because the basic problem is that we have lost our identity as a nation - we no longer know who we are or why we're here. Modern Americans are appallingly ignorant of the fact that the spiritual foundations of this nation were laid by people who had a deep commitment to Christ and to one another. They were led here by the vision of a new society based on God's Word, which would be an example to the rest of the world.
Why does it matter that we recover this vision? The Bible's answer is: "Without a vision the people perish." It is thus vitally important that we learn the truth about our Christian heritage, and the Christian faith and vision of our forefathers. Simply put, if we don't know who we are supposed to be, we don't know how to fix things!
Second, the other essential step for our survival is for American Christians to put 2 Chronicles 7:14 into practice, because I believe this is the only way revival can come. That verse says:
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and forgive their sin, and heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14).
We desperately need the Third Great Awakening - a spiritual revival of nation-changing proportions. It has happened twice before in our history. How can it happen again? This scripture clearly teaches that the burden of the country's restoration is placed on the Church--"my people"! Revival has to begin with pastors and local churches.
When God's people begin to seriously live out His call to repentance in 2 Chronicles 7:14, I believe that we will discover three main areas of "wicked ways" that we must repent of. If we deal with these, God promises that He will heal our land.
Notice that there seems to be a natural progression from #1 to #3, which makes up God's plan for revival and restoration (see Acts, Chapter 2).
Initially, we Christians need to repent for our shallow superficial "churchianity"-- our "feel good" resistance to facing our own sinfulness and relying daily on the cleansing power of Jesus to change our hearts. Modern American churches seem to focus on everything except the main point of the Christian life - daily seeking to abide in Jesus, and to be cleansed from sin and self.
Next, we Christians must repent for our lack of honest, confessional, and caring relationships with each other in our fellowships and churches. The New Testament calls for us to confess our sins to each other (James 5:16) and "wash each other's feet" (John 13:14-15), the way the Early Church did. But most bodies of believers are not living with each other in these ways, for if we were, the Church would be impacting our society with the restoration of Biblical values as the Early Church impacted theirs. Sadly, the Church is not often being the Church!
Finally, we Christians must repent for decades of non-involvement in the society around us. Because American Christians have lost the Biblical vision of the Church reforming society, most of us are still in a defensive posture toward the world around us, whereas Jesus calls us to take the offensive. He tells us to go into all the world with the Good News of the Gospel. We must recover the zeal of our evangelical forefathers, who in the 19th century began new ministries to every social problem in the nation! When Christians begin to build together a new life focused on Jesus as Savior and Lord, they experience an explosion of outreach and ministry and mission from their midst. The New Testament teaches that ministry comes out of a shared life in Christ!
Is there hope for America? Yes! Turning things around doesn't require every citizen's response. God promised Abraham long ago that He would spare Sodom on behalf of ten righteous people, a tiny remnant. But our national healing will not automatically happen just because we pray for it. If we American Christians truly respond to God's call, we may yet see the nation-wide revival that will restore America. But the hour is late, and we must respond quickly.
