The Origin Of The Nations Part 2

Origins are important. That's why God recorded the beginnings of human history in the book of Genesis. Here we find out where we came from. As members of the worlds nation today a wrap up on how everybody can trace their roots back to the sons of Noah. Stay with us in Chicago. This is morning with Dr. Lear teaching helps us make it across the finish line. Some say humans existed before Genesis 2 account otherwise contain have gotten the wife day just for the sake of the record, I totally disagree with the idea that human beings existed before Adam and Eve. Where did Cain get his wife will obviously he married his sister so matter-of-fact if you think about it. How else could the human race began. There were brothers and sisters who were marrying. There were cousins and that's the way it got started, so we don't need to go into some kind of a theory to give an explanation for Cain's wife. By the way I hold in my hands a book Dave Jeremiah on the cover says if I could I would put this book into the hands of every Christian in America. It's a book I've written, entitled, we will not be silenced responding courageously to our culture's assault on Christianity I want you to have a copy. For this reason, I believe that it will put a lot of the issues that we are confronting in America into perspective into biblical perspective and help us think through where we should stand for a gift of any amount. This book can be yours. Here is what you do Goto RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337. Now let's go to the pulpit of Moody church where we find out the origin of the nations listen carefully what is God's purpose in the nations.

How do we understand that for this you have to turn to the New Testament. The New Testament book of acts.

Notice in the 17th chapter of acts. Paul is on Mars Hill and is giving his famous speech and it says in verse 24, page 979.

If you have a Bible like my the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands and he is not served by human hands as if he needed anything because he himself gives old man life and breath and everything else. Now notice from one man in James says one blood he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth and noticed he determined the times set for them to determine how long they would last and the exact places where they should live his got involved in the nations.

That's why the second message in the series is entitled God's providence among the nations because you can't understand a phrase like that unless you believe in the providence of God.

But notice, Paul goes on to say God did this, verse 27 so that man would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he's not far from any one of us were in him we live and move and have our baby, even as one of your poets have said, we are his offspring, Paul is saying that God in a mysterious way and we certainly don't understand how determined the places in the times of various nations. Now, of the 70 nations mentioned in the 10th chapter of Genesis, by far the most of them are no longer in existence.

But God says I am determining that and giving all the nations of the earth an opportunity to seek him a when the King James says that they might grow after God. That's a good translation that they might in their frustration and needs and challenges and in the face of their demise and death that they might seek God.

And Paul says in Romans that God gave them to mean of Revelation. First of all, the starry heavens, says the heavens declare the glory of God. And it shows God's eternal power and God would. Paul says that anyone looking at the heavens should know that they didn't happen there by themselves.

I was at a retreat yesterday with some students from some colleges and one of the students said that he is a friend who is basically an atheist does not have anything to do with Christianity is tired of being preached to by Christians but is into astronomy and he was looking through the telescope at one star, a beautiful star and he backed away and said you know that I'm not religious. He kept saying you know that I'm not religious, you know that I'm not religious, but that couldn't have happened by itself. While I'm not religious, but that could not have happened by itself. God's eternal power and got it and then the light of conscience. The fact that we are aware of our sinfulness. This should have caused men and women to seek God and had they sought God as some undoubtedly did God gave them further revelation more Revelation that they might come to know him, but for the most part they turned away to idolatry, to creating God in their own image and you look at the history of the nations and you will find a buyer enlarge the nations are far from the living God.

Well, how do you like that for a brief survey but don't think that the closing prayer is coming quite yet because we are having for transforming conclusions. I know your notes say to but you civil pastors outcome. Your notes say to your sermon sis for gift understand I have to get the notes in by Wednesday evening, but God keeps talking after that you understand first of all I want you to remember number one the unity the unity of the nations.

Fundamentally, we all came through Mr. and Mrs. Noah. That's why Paul says he has made of one man or one blood all nations of the earth, and you can go from one end of this world to another and you can see all of our different characteristics and all of the ways in which we live that are so different in our different speech in our different habits in our different cultures which are radically different but you always come to this, that every human being upon the face of the earth is created in the image of God and is seeking God with great thirst, though many of them do not know they are and so their drinking from pagan fountains trying to find meaning, but it's inbred within us because were all members of the same family. Secondly, there is a tendency of nations to follow the character trait of their ancestors. There's a tendency of nations to follow the character traits of their ancestors. We can see this in the case of ham.

Now Hamm had a moral weakness. Evidently in that moral weakness turned out to be a curse. The curse of the fathers, sometimes to the third and fourth generations, and it was translated as a curse in the life of his youngest son Canaan.

As we explained, and the Canaanites were unbelievably perverse, morally, in fact, archaeologists who have on earth. Things in Canaan say that the kinds of perversion practiced in Canaan are hardly even known in cultures today and there perversion and we can see this also in Nimrod. This is in the 10th chapter of Genesis. You can read it on your own Nimrod. The Bible says was a mighty hunter. He was a mighty warrior and what does he do if he begins the city of Nineveh and you have the Assyrians beginning who were mighty warriors. Often times cruel and I have to say this very very hurriedly those of the ancient Assyrian because we have Assyrians here at Moody church. We have one on the pastoral staff a very wonderful man. We have ushers who are Assyrians and you know that we have whole families that are Assyrians and one evening I had the privilege of participating in a Bible study in the home of some of our Assyrians and I want you to know today that they not only are beautiful people but they are hospitable and gracious and have awesome Assyrian tea that they served to me what I'd like us to do is to simply look at some of the traits of the nations I'm smart enough to not tell you which nation. These traits belong to. I said to myself when someone in the church was doing a little bit of research for me. I wondered what nation is the most deceitful and I discovered not to even begin to go there because there are many nations in which deceit is simply a part of their culture early in life. Children are told and explained obviously have before them the model of Lai Yang and cheating and using people and the only rule really is.

Don't get caught all nations have that some do it superbly. Deceit. But let's look at some of the other.

Some of the other characteristics that sociologists have come up with some are inscrutable. Obviously these characteristics can apply to any nation. Some are ruthless in achievement of object tips. Some are fanatically nationalistic and prideful and whole war is a been fought and blood has been shed by the hundreds of thousands because of fanatical nationalism.

Some are greedy for wealth and power these as you might've already caught on are the negative characteristics ruthlessness hidden behind a façade of politeness, militaristic, cruel but obedient to authority, illogical will pursue incompatible opinions to absurd and how do you like to do business with a nation like that, given to sensuality out restraint. These are some of the characteristics and then you find some positive characteristics and aptitude for the arts for music or art for sculpturing. Some especially SL in that some have practical and technical bands.

They are the inventors. Some have philosophical minds and become great thinkers. Some nations are more peaceloving. Some emphasize physical strength.

But here's the point I want to make you and I because of marriage because of intermarriage because of one nation going out of existence and another coming into existence. You and I are are a very interesting confluence of genes and I want you to know today that God not only knows about that made us that way and it is his intention to take the negative traits the negative traits that we would have naturally the negative traits that would come to us because of our culture because of our heritage because of our parents because of our background and what God does is he overcomes those negative traits and begins to build in us the positive traits of the fullness of the spirit and love and joy, peace, and long-suffering and gentleness and to take some of the strengths of our particular culture to use those strengths for his honor and his glory. That's what God does in what we call salvation. Let me give you 1/3 third observation without God's intervention without God's intervention, all people would be completely lost all people would be completely lost.

When you look at the nations. As I've already mentioned, always there is entropy going to randomness and to paganism. It's everywhere. Just think for a moment universal paganism and wickedness upon the earth, so great that God could not stand it but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Noah has three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. As we noticed from them. All the families of the earth are scattered and what do we have by the time we get to the end of Genesis chapter 11. Universal wickedness, paganism and idolatry rampant in the whole earth, and what does God do. He sovereignly chooses. He chooses Abraham. Abraham, of course, the Shem lights and it's from Abraham that all the families of the earth are going to be blessed because that's where Jesus is going to come and so God God intervenes and he chooses Abraham out of idolatry and says Abraham I'm introducing myself to you because you would not go looking for me. I am coming looking for you and I'm going to save you and I'm going to make you the father of a great nation. Here you have Canaanites and we spoke about the curse of the Canaanites and in the midst of that awful curse and that evil that the Canaanites committed here you have a prostitute by the name of Rahab who believes in Jehovah. She is saved by the grace of God and even makes it into the list in Hebrews chapter 11, where you have all of the heroes of faith she's listed there and God's grace was extended to other Canaanites as well who came to note Jehovah and to trust Jehovah God. So what you always see is this Universal wickedness. Would God is always drawing out. God is always intervening. I want you to know today that without God's intervention, we were left to ourselves, we would become idolaters, self-serving, and we would not come to know the Lord and you know that it's the same today. I can take you to families where there are no Christians on either side in the family grandparents who perhaps were into occultism grandparents who who had no time for God and then parents who equally had no time for God and in the midst of a family like that God will choose a young woman and she will get saved and through her blessing will come to others and her family will never understand it or God will choose a young man I know young man who's a pastor today who comes from a from a thoroughly anti-Christian family and he's the only one saved and his family and God reached down and saved him out. Why, because if God did not rescue us from our sin. We would remain in it. That's the hope of the gospel and you see the reason that we we share the gospel of Jesus Christ is.

We know that God's means of rescuing people is to have them understand Jesus Christ and then use that information to use that information to cause the Holy Spirit of God to work in their hearts to know that God is in the rescuing business and save sinners, even big one and that's why we have evangelism explosion because we know that God's purposes God's purposes in this era are all focused on Jesus, there's 1/4 and final observation and that is that in the end, the representatives will be in heaven from all the different families of the earth. The Bible says in Revelation chapter 5 verse nine that there will be members that Jesus purchased from every tribe, from every language from every people from every nation and they all will be there. What is God doing today God is going to the nations of the earth and we are going to the nations of the of inviting men and women to believe on Jesus, so that there will be more tongs to give glory to God and that that representative group that we will have a pardon at because we are part of God's plan to rescue people from their sin through Jesus. I simply conclude today with this thought. If you are here today as a Christian I want you to know if you know anything about history that you are and exception urine exception somebody hearing that on the radio or on the Internet says oh yeah, that's the problem with you Christians. You are so proud you think that you're so special. Want you to know today that if you're thinking that you have the opposite response to what you should have if we are the exceptions. It is old because of God's grace. He is on deserve the grace that saved us out of millions and millions who do not know the Savior in future messages. We will learn that God has two purposes. He has a purpose for the unconverted and he has a purpose for the converted in both of them converge in his matchless grace and glory. How could I preach a message like this without in the end, inviting you to believe in Jesus to trust you, especially if you think of yourself as marginalized or rejected because you belong to this tribe, this nation, this culture, this particular background, no matter who you are. The Bible says if there's a desire in your heart to respond to Jesus and be forgiven and to be reconciled to God. You can be a part of that eternal company history is going somewhere next time will learn that God is guiding it in the process. Would you join me as we pray our father.

Today we want to thank you that you can overcome any barrier any background any confluence of genes that made us one way and not another, and that your grace loves to reach deep that your glory might be clearly seen in the lives of the redeemed, may no one listening to this think that they are beyond God's grace and may no one listening to this think that they are too good to receive or need your grace, help us as we exalt Jesus. The focal point of history.

We pray in his name, amen. My friend, this is pastor Luther we have to believe that God is the God of the nations and at the same time recognize that nations often have been terribly deceived. Did you know that Karl Marx still rules. Much of the world from his grave. Can you distinguish what is called Marxism from cultural Marxism what's going on in our culture. What should we be aware of these of the kinds of questions I ask and answer in my book entitled, we will not be silenced responding courageously to our culture's assault on Christianity for a gift of any amount. It can be yours. Here's what you do go to RTW offer.com or call us at 1-888-218-9337 is time once again for you to ask pastor looks or a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

Recently we got a listener question about the very Bible passage from which running to win got its original concept and name the image of a race being run on earth with a very special audience in the stands.

Here is the question we received. Please explain the term cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12 one.

Are these individuals in heaven who are encouraging us along the way, what my friend thank you so much for asking that question because absolutely running to win came from this passage. Therefore, since we have such a cloud of witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us. I still remember the time when I sat down with her producer Dave McAllister and we are discussing what we should call the program and this passage of Scripture came to mind. And so we agreed on running to win, but the cloud of witnesses.

I do not believe that these are people who are in heaven for watching us on earth would we need to do is to understand the Bible in context, remember that chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews talks about all those heroes of faith who went on before us. So I see the cloud of witnesses.

It is not as if these heroes of faith in chapter 11 are looking at us, but rather we are looking at them.

They have gone on this 11th chapter is not so much about the miracles. It is about their endurance, their ability to continue to believe no matter what, in light of what they have done.

We are inspired and so that's the way in which I interpret it now. I do believe that people in heaven could ask questions of Jesus. I could imagine. For example, a husband asking about how his wife is doing on earth but I don't think that the saints in heaven see us. They have better things to do, but thank God because they are there and because the record of their victories has been recorded for us in Scripture, we continue in the presence of those witnesses to run the race that is set before us. Thank you for asking. God bless you and have a good day all day. That was Dr. Erwin Luzerne as always running the race.

If you'd like to hear your question answered. Go to our website. RTW offer.com and click on ask pastor Luther or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 1-888-218-9337 you can write to us at running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 today.

Erwin Luzerne concluded the origin of the nations first in a six part series on God and the nations next time. Join us to learn all about God's providence among the nations. Thanks for listening.

This is Dave Alister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church