When any government Separates from God and His law in Scripture, and from His people. and his church. It invites Judgment on a personal scale and a national scale. It's unavoidable. Because God is immutable.
He doesn't change. Welcome to Grace to You, featuring the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson. And today we continue a series that we've begun where you're going to meet some of our staff. We have about 75 people on our staff.
And we asked them to name their favorite John MacArthur sermon.
So we've chosen 10 of those favorite messages that we're going to broadcast as a series. Each message in this series was chosen by one of our staff members as being John MacArthur's most memorable sermon. And so that's what we've given as the title of this series.
So right now, Jeremy Smith is with me in the studio. Thanks for being here, Jeremy. Thanks, Phil. Good to be here. Jeremy served as a missionary for many years, and now he gives oversight to our translation efforts.
Working to get John MacArthur's Bible teaching materials into as many of the major world languages as we can.
So, Jeremy, talk about the Sermon of John's that you selected as your favorite. The title itself stands out because of the question mark at the end. It's called A Nation Under God with the question mark. Why that message?
Well, I chose that message because of really the moment in which it was proclaimed. It was a moment in which Pastor John. Led our congregation to obey God's word, to trust in it in a time of difficulty and uncertainty. What was that time?
Well, that was during the COVID lockdowns in 2020. Yes, I remember. Yeah, and the local and state authorities were prohibiting public gatherings of any kinds, including at the church. And people were confused. They were afraid.
They were uncertain what to do. And that wasn't. only in the world it was in the churches as well. And in the midst of all that Pastor John stood up and boldly proclaimed God's Truth. It was the summer of twenty twenty where those lockdowns were really most uh intense.
Yes, and the county government was coming after Grace Church and John MacArthur in particular. That's right, with threats of fines and imprisonment as well. And it was on a Thursday in September that a judge actually gave an order prohibiting. the congregation of Grace Community Church to meet together. And three days later, on that Sunday, the congregation gathered in force to worship, to hear God's word proclaimed.
Yeah, collectively, we just said, look, we must obey God rather than men. That's right. We wanted to hear from the word of God. From our pastor. And so we met, and Pastor John preached this message.
So it is a memorable message. I remember it well. And those were, as you said, difficult times. And knowing that the threat of arrest and imprisonment hung over John's head when he preached this sermon made it only that much more powerful. That's right.
We saw in that John's conviction. His absolute confidence. in the power and the authority of God's word. And that's what the church needed at that moment. Amen.
So let's listen to the message chosen by Grace TU team member Jeremy Smith. As John MacArthur's most memorable sermon, This message with the inquisitive title. A nation under God? Here is John MacArthur. There is now in the flag salute of our nation A statement.
One nation under God. that was added to the flag salute in 1954. The question is, is this a nation under God? We know that's what the founding fathers intended, and not just any God, but the God of Scripture. Nations are obligated to worship the true God.
Did you hear what I just said? They're obligated to worship the true God, and there are dire circumstances that will come upon them if they fail to do that. I want to show you that. On the 10th of June, in the year 1900, at the age of 84, the Bishop of Liverpool, J.C. Ryle, Went to heaven.
He was called the man of granite with the heart of a child. During his long years of leadership in the Church of England, he Was relentlessly faithful to the Bible, to the Word of God. He had been intensely loved and intensely hated because of his fidelity to biblical truth. He was even called the lion. For the truth.
His legacy still lives globally. His influence is still around because of his writings, and my guess is that most of you have. I've read something by J. C. Ryle.
The scope of his influence is vast. But one of the things that particularly interested Ryle was the relationship between the church and the state. He recognized the foundational truth that all people and all nations are called to worship the true God. That is not an option. That is a divine Command.
I don't think people understand that. But I want to help you to understand it. Let me begin by establishing some foundational truth. Number one, man was created by God. in the image of God, for the glory of God.
Every person is given as a part of being human The divine image. and the knowledge of God's nature and God's law.
So that the law of God is written in every heart. And the truth about God resides in every heart.
So that the Bible says if they do not Come to God. They are without excuse.
Now we know the instinct to worship is strong in every soul. Everybody worships. God has designed a human soul to worship him. But the fallenness of humanity causes Human beings to turn from worshiping the true God to worshiping. Just about anything and everything else.
Mankind rejects the true law of God. And so the Apostle Paul says. There is none who seeks for God. There is no fear of God before their eyes. And every mouth is stopped, that is without an excuse.
and all the world guilty and accountable to the one true God. Romans 3.
So, man is created by God in the image of God for the glory of God. and commanded to worship the true God. Secondly, all people are to worship only the true God. Mankind worships, we get that. But his fallenness directs him away from the true God.
To false gods. As Jesus said in John 4:22. To the Samaritan woman, You know not. What do you worship? J C Ryle Dealing with this very issue.
Said this, any worship. is more pleasing to the natural heart than worshiping God In the way our Lord Jesus describes it, as worshiping in spirit and truth. The natural heart Goes in the opposite direction. of God. That is why the scripture constantly commands Everyone.
back from that deviation to worship the true God. God said, there's no God besides me. There is no God besides me, that is, there are no other gods. Scripture says back in Deuteronomy 32, it's repeated in 1 Corinthians 10 that all the gods of the nations are demons. They are satanic.
Counterfeits Demonic delusions There's only one God, all the rest. are some form of demon worship. The first commandment is this. You shall have no other gods beside me. You shall not worship any other God, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God.
Exodus 34. You shall not worship them or serve them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children. On the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing loving kindness to thousands to those who love me and keep my commandments. Worship the true God.
And you will. Be blessed. worship any other god and you fall under a curse. You say, well, doesn't that apply only to Israel? No, not at all.
There is a prophet that everyone knows about. At least they know about One part of his life and that was when he was swallowed by a great fish. But there's something much more Important. In the big scheme of things, In looking at Jonah. Third chapter of Jonah.
He goes to Nineveh. Nineveh, by the way, is modern Mosul. in Iraq At least that same location. The word of the Lord came to Jonah second time chapter 3. Arise, go to Nineveh, the great city, and proclaim to it the proclamation which I am going to tell you.
So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk. Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk, and he cried out and said, Yet forty days in Nineveh will be overthrown. Then the people of Nineveh believed in God, and they called a fast, and they put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them. And when the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the ashes.
He issued a proclamation, and it said, In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, Do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing, do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and let men call on God earnestly, that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hands. Who knows, God may turn and relent, and withdraw his burning anger, so that we will not perish. When God saw their deeds, that they turn from their wicked way. Then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them.
And he didn't do it. That's not personal salvation. That's a nation turning to the true God. Acknowledging that there is one true God. And it saved that nation from immediate destruction.
There's only one God, only one true God. All humanity is commanded to worship that one true God. And the fundamental reason, the fundamental plan of God. As far as nations are concerned. is to bless the nations That acknowledge him as the true God.
We're not talking about personal salvation, we're talking about a national recognition of who is the true God. The third thing to say is this, failure to worship God. And to worship any other God. brings judgment. It certainly brings judgment on individuals.
But it also brings judgment on nations. That judgment becomes inevitable because when you turn from the one true God, you therefore turn from His law. When you turn from his law, reverence is gone, morality is gone, fear is gone, virtue is gone. And God is gone. That's the cycle of the history of nations, Acts 14.
God has allowed all the nations to go their own way. It's the way of destruction. That's what Paul's talking about in Romans 1. They knew God, they glorify him not as God. And the wrath of God was unleashed on them.
God gave them over to lusts and impurity, gave them over to unlawful, degrading passions, women with women and men with men, gave them over to a depraved mind, and they heartily approved behaviors that they knew led them to judgment. There's only one God. He demands that Everyone worship him. Individuals for individual salvation, nations recognizing him. for a national temporal blessing.
Where am I going with this? Pretty simple. When any government separates from God and His law in Scripture. And from his people. And his church.
It invites judgment on a personal scale. and a national scale. It's unavoidable. Because God is immutable. He doesn't change.
When government thinks it's only responsibility is for physical, material.
Social Temporal Needs. And ignores the spiritual reality of the true God and people's spiritual needs. When a nation becomes indifferent to the true God and His Word and His law, It makes a grave mistake. which if not reversed will lead that nation to its own destruction. The notion of a secular state is a lie.
Government is ordained by God. In Ryle's lifetime, He called his nation England. to biblical law, biblical Christianity. And he said it should be recognized nationally. And the scriptures should be promoted.
For the good of society.
Now, the reformers were right in seeing three uses for the law of God. Use one Was to show the sinner what holiness was like so the sinner could see how far short he falls. Be convicted and repent personally and receive the salvation that God offers through Christ.
So the first use of the law is to awaken the sinner to his sin and judgment. The second use of the law Is then to become the standard for believers' behavior. As they Walk in sanctification and holiness. But the third use of the law, said the reformers, and they were right, is to restrain sin in society. And God's law does restrain sin.
And government is to be its enforcer. As long as this society follows biblical law, there will be a restraint on sin. Ryle wrote this in his day. The Government of England would allow all its subjects to serve God or BAAL, To go to heaven or to go to hell. just as they please.
The state would take no cognizance of spiritual matters. and would look on with Epicurean indifference and unconcern. That is a deadly thing for a society to face. Ryle also said this. In what manner?
God would punish England. If the English government casts off all connections with him, I cannot tell. Whether he would punish us by some sudden blow, such as defeat in war and the occupation of our territory by a foreign power, whether he would waste us away gradually and slowly by loss of commercial prosperity, whether he would break us to pieces by letting fools rule over us and allowing parliament to obey them. whether he would ruin us by sending a dearth of wise statesmen But one thing I am sure, the state that sows the seed of national neglect of God will sooner or later reap a harvest of national disaster and national ruin. And England has reaped that harvest.
So is Scotland. in Ireland.
So, the law of God has a personal purpose to convict the sinner, lead him to salvation. It has a sanctifying purpose as the Regulation for the living of a sanctified life. But it also has a national purpose to restrain sin.
So what are we saying? There is no God except the God of the Bible. There is no true morality but the morality of the Bible. There is no true worship but the worship of the true and living God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no personal blessing apart from him.
There is no national blessing apart from honoring him. And there is no way to him except through Jesus Christ. All irreligious, immoral. Indifferent governments will self-destruct. And that self-destruction is Only apparently a self-destruction, it's really a divine judgment.
Godless complacency. Or open rebellion against God ends up with the same result. A society that turns from God will be open to all false religions. Welcoming The Doctrines of Demons. The society that turns from God will be open to all moralities and all immoralities, all perverse.
Freedoms. All sexual preferences All Ideas And opinions. All lies. all deception, all sins. All iniquities.
A nation that turns from God will lose control of absolutely everything. Chaos will begin to take over. And it'll lead to anarchy, and anarchy usually leads to a police state. or a dictatorship. Yeah.
Removing the worship of the true God. is a disaster to a nation. 1 Timothy 2, 1 and 2. Paul said, first of all, then I urge that entreaties and prayers. Petitions and thanksgivings.
be made on behalf of all men for kings Rulers, all who are in authority.
so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is Paul saying, God desires people to live a quiet and tranquil life. That's not salvation language. That that is simply societal peace.
Well-being. The enjoyment of common grace. But for that to happen, we have to pray. for the leaders who are in authority. Pray that they will submit to God.
First, that they would be saved. They would submit to God. When God and Christ and Scripture are dishonored in a nation, there will be violence. There will be noise. Transgressions and shame.
There will not be a tranquil, peaceful life in all godliness. And dignity. Joshua 24, 20. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods. Then he will turn.
And do you harm and consume you after he has done Good to you. There's no question. That God has done good to this nation. But he will consume this nation. If it stays on the path it's on.
Removing the worship of the true God. Removing the authority of his word, the voice of the church. The moral education of children and youth. removing the gospel because it's too offensive. is the path to national destruction.
God chose Israel and laid out these same realities to Israel. And Israel was disobedient, and it destroyed Israel, and they had a covenant promise from God. Their destruction was not final because God promises to save them in the future. No other nation has such a Promise. Of restoration and national salvation in the future.
If God didn't spare Israel historically, he's not going to spare people who are not part of his covenant. Listen to how broad the Bible is. says worship of the true God is. Psalm 33.8. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the nations of the world revere him. Psalm 117.1, praise the Lord all you nations and extol him. all you peoples.
Now that has to come from leadership.
So Psalm 72, 11 says, Let all kings bow down before him, and all nations serve him. All kings. All nations. God is to be worshipped by all nations. All leaders?
Or judgment will fall. Turn for a moment to Joshua chapter 10. You remember that when Moses Went To be with the Lord, the mantle of leadership was turned over to Joshua. And Joshua took the children of Israel into the The land of Canaan, which had been promised of course to Abraham long before, But when Joshua Entered into the land, I want you to see. What he did.
Go to the end of chapter 10. Verse forty Well verse. 38. Joshua and all Israel with him. Returned to Dabir and they fought against it.
He captured it and its king and all its cities. And they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed every person who was in it. He left no survivor, just as he had done to Hebron, so he did to Debir and its king, as he had also done to Libna and its king. First thing Joshua does is go into the land of paganism. And he is the executioner of the Lord's wrath.
Verse 40 then. Thus Joshua struck all the land. The hill country. and the Negev in the south, in the lowland, and the slopes, and all their kings. He left no survivor, but he utterly destroyed all who breathed, just as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded.
This seems very disturbing to many people who read this in the Old Testament. But none of those kings Died. Under that judgment. who weren't going to die. Under judgment.
Another way, had God not done this, God is the one who destroys both soul and body in hell. He used Joshua as his executioner. Go over to chapter 11, verse 17. Further from Mount Halak that rises towards Seir, even as far as Baal-Gad in the valley of Lebanon at the foot of Mount Hermon, that's way in the north. He captured all their kings and struck them down.
and put them to death. Joshua waged war a long time. with all these kings. There was not a city which made peace. But the sun's of Israel.
Their hearts were so hard. Verse 20, it was the Lord then who sealed the hardness of their heart to meet Israel in battle in order that he might utterly destroy them, that they might receive no mercy, but that he might destroy them, just as the Lord. had commanded Moses. Just glance at chapter 12. Here are the kings.
Defeated. and slain. All of Chapter 12 List them. 31 Kings, the end of chapter 12. That is shocking to many people.
That God is an executioner of pagan kings. who have not acknowledged him. God is the same God today. It's not to say he is not compassionate and merciful. He is, and the Old Testament is clear on that.
But for those who reject, him and his offer of Forgiveness and salvation, he is the inevitable judge. This puts a huge burden on leadership. in a country. I know there are a lot of people who are pursuing political power. That's a dangerous thing to pursue.
Dangerous. Because God has requirements for those in power. Because nations are basically Formed by those who lead them. And by what they demand and what they tolerate, a nation will be defined.
So what does God require? Let's go back to Psalm 2. Verse 10.
Now therefore, O kings, show discernment. Take warning, O judges of the earth. If you're in a position of power, whether you're a king or a judge, governor. President. Vice President.
Congressman Senator Mayor, whatever. Take warning. Worship the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Sun. that he not become angry and you perish in the way.
For his wrath may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge in him. Reject the Son of God. and you will anger God and his wrath will fall on you. Yeah.
You're listening to Grace to You, the Bible teaching ministry of John MacArthur. Today's message, A Nation Under God, is part of our brand new series called John MacArthur's Most Memorable Sermon. It's a collection of all-time favorite sermons by John as chosen by Grace to U staff members.
Well friend, I trust that today's lesson helped you see how clear the Bible is on how believers should think about government. Of course, there are plenty of cultural issues that the Bible doesn't specifically address. And to help you know how to respond biblically to today's challenging political and social issues, I encourage you to pick up a copy of John's book called Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong. It's a great tool for refining your biblical worldview. It's helpful for students and parents and church leaders, really for any Christian.
Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong is available now. Order your copy today. Call us at 800-55 GRACE. or you can order from our website, gty.org. Right thinking in a world gone wrong costs $15 and shipping is free.
Order a copy for yourself, order a few to give away when you call 80055 GRACE or go to gty.org. This book, Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong, is one of dozens of books available from Grace to You. John MacArthur has written on the debate between creation and evolution, the nature of the gospel, the return of Christ, and much more. To see the complete selection of books, go to gty.org. Also, keep in mind our flagship resource, the MacArthur Study Bible.
It gives you the full text of Scripture plus 25,000 footnotes written by John to help you understand what each passage means by what it says. You can order by calling us at 800-55-GRACE. or when you visit gty.org.
Now for the entire Grace DU staff, I'm Phil Johnson. Thanks for making this broadcast part of your day. Be back tomorrow for the next lesson in our brand new series called John MacArthur's Most Memorable Sermon. It's another 30 minutes of Unleashing God's Truth one verse at a time on grace to you.
