Is there hope for this country? (The 10 Commandments Part 3) Leverett Mass

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. I heard this statement years ago, and I don't know if some of you have heard this.

You can let me know after if you have. But somebody said, they said, if people won't receive Jesus, you know, preach Jesus. But if people won't receive Jesus, preach Moses. I'd never heard. I never heard of that.

It doesn't sound right. I saw some of your expressions. You're like this. I don't think that's what you're supposed to do. Well, here's the thing. Some people are ready to receive the good news. Some people, they know that they have fallen short.

They know that they need God's grace. Some people are ready to receive Jesus. They need you to preach about Jesus. But the obstinate sinner who thinks that they're just fine or that worse yet, that God actually affirms them and in their sin, that person needs to be crushed under the weight of Moses, under God's law, so that they will then see their need for Christ and the gospel.

So I actually think that's a valid, a valid statement. Preach Jesus. People won't receive Jesus. Preach Moses. But we do. We want to focus on Christ and the gospel. We want to focus on God's grace. That's the most important thing that we have been given as the church to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, that God so loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

The Sabbath and Weekly Corporate Worship

Look at Exodus chapter 20, verse eight. Remember what? Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Now this topic of the Sabbath and how it relates to the New Testament church, we simply don't have time to get in to all the complexities of this.

So I'm simply going to stick to the main point of agreement that for the past 2000 years, nearly all churches and nearly all nations that have recognized Christ as Lord, it has been almost universally accepted that one day a week, one day out of seven is to be set aside for the corporate worship of the Lord.

That is, Christians are to gather with the church weekly. And I'm not talking about individuals here. I'm talking about as a nation. How is the nation doing with this? Well, a poll came out a month or so ago that for the first time in American history, people who hold church membership, and it's actually a membership of any house of worship.

So it's not just Christianity. People in America who hold membership to some house of worship for the first time has dipped below 50%. It never happened before, but it happened in 2021. And I just want to speak to the folks who listen on radio and the Internet who don't belong to a church or they don't attend church.

We certainly appreciate everyone who listens. OK, keep listening and on the radio and online. And I think that's good. But Christian fellowship is an essential part of the Christian walk. You know, we need each other.

We need to be meeting together in person. It's been one of the big things the past year and a half is that when you have a mask and you know how this is in public, you go somewhere and you think that's that person.

You're not really sure because they're wearing a mask and it's a barrier, right? It's a barrier to fellowship. Should I say hi? What if it's somebody else? I call them by the wrong name. But it's different.

It's difficult. But we do. We need that friendship, the fellowship, the communication. We need the encouragement. We need the accountability. We need to heed the words of Hebrews 10, 25, which says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another.

We need to encourage one another so much, the more as we see the day approaching and we see the day is approaching. So if someone just to finish that point, if somebody is listening online and on the radio and they don't attend a church, don't belong to a church, we'd like to invite you to come here, but you don't have to come here.

Go to a good church that believes the Bible and preaches verse by verse through the Bible. It will encourage you. Exodus 20, verse 12, honor your father and your mother that your days may be long on the land, which the Lord your God is giving you.

Honoring Parents and Preserving a Nation

This is the first commandment. What do you need to this commandment? It's the first commandment with what? With a promise attached to it. And what's the promise? Well, the promise is specific to, again, this is specific to the children of Israel, that their days would be long on the land that God was going to give them.

But one way a nation is preserved, this is what we've been praying about. Lord, protect our freedom and our liberty. Preserve our nation, right? One way a nation is preserved is when the next generation respects the generation that came before them.

When you honor your father and mother. And again, to the younger people, maybe if you're in your 20s or really any age, respect your elders. Children, young people need to look up and respect their elders.

And of course, honor your father and mother. And people say there's going to be those scenarios where someone says, yeah, you don't know my father. You don't know my mother. They weren't honorable people.

That might be true. But they're still your mom and your dad. It's sort of like when we have a hard time respecting a leader, you still are to respect the office that they hold. So if we want God to exalt this nation or bless this nation, we need to honor our parents.

We need to honor and have respect for the generation that came before us. So a nation that understands something about respect is a nation that God can work with. A nation that God can bless as opposed to a nation of rebels and revolutionaries.

The Commandment Against Murder and the Sin of Abortion

Verse 13, commandment number six, you shall not murder. And this is where more of the controversial issues come in. The obvious plague upon our land today is how abortion is a billion-dollar industry.

Our Supreme Court claims that it is a constitutional right. But it's funny. I can't seem to find anything in the Constitution about that.

Can you?

Our nation's original founding document, the Declaration of Independence, gives us three examples of unalienable rights. What are they? The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right to life is the first one.

And listen, abortion seems like an easy solution to some people. But there is a cost attached to it. It brings not only the potential physical problems that come as the result of the procedure. Obviously, the worst of it is the death of the baby.

But it also brings a great deal of pain and guilt. And I say this with a spirit of charity. God can forgive this. God can forgive this. But God cannot bless a nation that continues to promote this and remains unrepentant.

Sexual Purity and the Scope of Adultery

Verse 14. You shall not commit adultery. It's a well-known statistic that 50 of all marriages end in divorce. We've all heard that a thousand times. Well, as high as 40 of those marriages end because of infidelity, because of adultery.

And it's important to understand that with these commandments, the Ten Commandments are general in this sense that all sexual sin comes under the umbrella of this commandment. So this speaks specifically of adultery, but it refers to fornication, which is sex outside of marriage.

It refers to pornography. It refers to homosexuality. Basically, anything that is outside the bounds of what Jesus himself said in Matthew 19, that sexual relations are to be limited between husband and wife.

And again, why does the Lord give these commandments? Because he knows it's very common. But he wants what's best for people.

Amen.

And I know that it is very common for evangelicals and all those things we discussed. It's very common for evangelicals to kind of narrow in on one sin in particular and to just focus on the sin of homosexuality.

Right.

And they'll say things like homosexuality is an attack on the institution of marriage or the gay marriage ruling was an attack on the institution of marriage. You know, it was. That's true. But in all fairness, and, you know, someone might get upset that I say this, evangelicals cannot blame homosexuals for the decline or the destruction of marriage.

Straight people have done enough damage to marriage without blaming them. Adultery was tolerated in this country, has been tolerated long before anyone has ever heard of the LGBTQ community. It's our departure from the Lord as a people.

It's our departure from the Lord as a nation that has led to this. And it's not even the gay marriage ruling of 2014 that has caused the destruction. It's things like no fault divorce laws. And while God again, God can forgive, God can forgive any of these things.

Amen.

But even if every person in America got right with God tomorrow, you know what? The effects and the consequences would still be there. Scripture says there is not a just man upon the earth that does right and that does not sin.

So we've all fallen short. This nation has fallen short. But the good news of God's grace is that there's hope. There is hope. I know some of you, you turn on the television, you turn on the news, you look around you.

There is no hope for this country. Well, I've thought the same thing.

There is hope.

You know what?

God is on his throne. There is hope. And we preach this because you say, well, I am not guilty of this. I've never done that. Well, this message in some ways is for the people who have not got mixed up in this.

Don't do it.

Not just because the Bible says so. Now, sometimes we preach this way. Well, it's because the Bible says. Well, that's a good enough reason.

All right. It is.

The Bible says so. But again, God gives these commandments for our own good. Verse 15, you shall not steal that self-explanatory. Verse 16, it's a commandment against bearing false witness. Obviously, if you do this in a court of law, it's going to be a stiffer penalty.

But it covers all lying and all deception. And then the final one is coveting. This is where you're discontent. And you see that somebody else has something that you don't have. And you're upset about it.

And you want what other people have. You're not happy with what God has given you. And that's sort of a gateway sin. Coveting leads to adultery. It leads to theft. It leads to one sin leads to another thing.

So, in trying to wrap this all up, I think you get the point. I think you get the point in how we're doing as a nation. Well, this is one of the problems. We're not obeying God's commandments. Righteousness exalts a nation.

But sin is a reproach to any people. So, I want to leave you on a positive note here.

Okay.

Again, our nation isn't doing very well. And you compare other nations, they're doing even worse, some of them.

Okay.

We're not, maybe not the worst, but that's not the point. Here's the thing. You as an individual, you can still flourish. You as an individual, you can still be blessed by God. If we would trust in Jesus Christ and strive with the Holy Spirit's help, strive to love the Lord and show that by obeying his commandments.

Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.