Confessions of a Church: Before a Wicked Nation

The Psalm writer wrote: Open my eyes, that I may behold Wonderful things from Your law. As we come before a Holy God and hear his word, may we have eyes open to the wonderful and fearful things from his law. May it move us to repent and seek forgiveness, fear disobedience, and live in light of the grace we have received. This is the word of God. It is eternally true and applicable for all of life.

Proverbs 28:1-10 The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion. By the transgression of a land many are its princes, But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures. A poor man who oppresses the lowly Is like a driving rain which leaves no food. Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, But those who keep the law strive with them. Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all things. Better is the poor who walks in his integrity Than he who is crooked though he be rich. He who keeps the law is a discerning son, But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father. He who increases his wealth by interest and usury Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor. He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. He who leads the upright astray in an evil way Will himself fall into his own pit, But the blameless will inherit good.
This is the word of the LORD.

Matthew Henry states that “National sins bring national disorders and the disturbance of the public repose.” As we watch our nation crumble before our very eyes, we can quite easily see the root from which all of our current national calamity has come. The Triune God of scripture, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost has been rejected in favor of a multiplicity of gods, in the form of perverted sexuality, materialism, comfort, and entertainment, to name a few. From these spring no fault divorce, child sacrifice, the erosion of family, covetousness, a lack of contentedness, and unthinking minds which are distorted by fantasy, ungrounded in reality. Our national transgressions are as high as the heavens, and their stench is abominable to God Who is Holy, Holy, Holy.

While things look bleak, while Christians wonder “How long O LORD?”, while the whole creation continues to groan under the transgressions of the sons and daughters of Adam, we must remember that there is nothing keeping this people back from total ruin, save for the mere good pleasure of Almighty God. It is only God’s will and His ordaining hand which permits this nation to exist one second longer.

One thing that follows from our national sins is a bloated host of bureaucrats and politicians who seem locked in a constant power struggle over who will manage the dumpster fire. We see a collision of worldviews among these wicked magistrates, with some ruling according to the philosophy of Humanism, pitted against others who have merely a remnant of the Christian worldview, who attempt to appear virtuous and noble, while appealing to the base lusts of their depraved constituents. The leaders we have today truly do represent the will of the people. We hate them, their corruption, their greed, their power hunger, and yet they are a reflection of what the people of this nation have become.

By the transgression of a land many are its princes, But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.

We can read scripture and see that nations which reject God are destroyed. The waste bin of history is full of nations which once were, but are now only vague memories. Take Nineveh for example: a wicked land ripe for destruction yet God sent Jonah to preach the good news. Repentance followed, but only for a short time as Nineveh was brought low a few decades later. Having a fear of the LORD is the only hope for our nation. Only a fear of the LORD leads to true knowledge and wisdom. Those with no fear of God before their eyes become fools and hate discipline, as we see on display all around us each day. Men can become women. Flatten the curve. Print more money. We have become a nation of people who behave like unreasoning animals, yet God has granted us another day to repent.

True wisdom which follows after a fear of the LORD is the only remedy for a nation dangling over the pit of hell. Likewise, in families such as yours, which make up a nation collectively, it is only by the fear of the LORD will you stand. If in your home a fear of the LORD has been supplanted by a pursuit of wealth, an insatiable appetite for entertainment, and a fleeing into the faux refuge of temporal comforts, your family will not stand.

If your home has become one where the dictators of world, flesh, and devil rule over your appetites and govern your thinking, your family will join the myriads of others who have been reduced to nothing in the past. We can break this train of thought down to even the most base level: a nation with wicked rulers is made up of families led by the lust of the flesh, which consist of individuals who are governed by depraved thinking which stems directly from idolatry.

We have wicked rulers, and many of them because at the very bottom of it all we are idolaters with no fear of God before our eyes. As our corrupt heart goes, so goes our family, and following after that, the nation.

Isaiah 60:12: “For the nation and the kingdom which will not serve you will perish, And the nations will be utterly ruined.”

National repentance and a turning away of God’s wrath will not occur unless repentance first happens in the heart of individuals like you and I: husbands, wives, sons, daughters, managers, hourly workers, blue collar, white collar, black people, white people, and all colors in between. We cannot expect this nation to repent of it’s wicked ways unless repentance first takes place within our own hearts and our homes.

Brothers and sisters, destroy your idols and turn back to Christ Who loves you, and gave Himself as a sacrifice, a sweet smelling aroma on your behalf. Repent of your sins, which are an affront to the Holiness of God, and make a mockery of the sacrifice of His Son.

If you are able, at this time please join me in kneeling as we cry out to God for grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

Heavenly Father we have sinned against You alone. We have nowhere to hide from Your gaze. There is no place, even the darkest recess of our minds, to which we can flee and be free to practice our sin unnoticed by You. We are naked and full of shame, having brought reproach upon Your Great Name through our sins. Please be merciful towards us sinners. Please grant us grace that we may fully see our sins, turn back to You, and be saved. Please wash us clean from our sins with the blood of Your Son Jesus, and grant us a steadfast spirit which will persevere to the end.
In Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

Please join me in standing and listen to the comforting assurance of the grace of God, promised in the gospel to his church:

Psalm 103:8-12 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

To all those who thus repent and seek Jesus Christ for their salvation, your sins are forgiven in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lift up your hearts!

(From the 01/25/2021 liturgy of Sovereign King Church written by Aaron Sabie.)