November. 1, 2020 – Essential church 3 …If my people…”
Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
The biblical Kingdom covenant of our founding fathers
More than 150 years before our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence, a group of people came to the United States looking for religious freedom.
They came on the Mayflower, and the day before they disembarked from the Mayflower, they spent the day in fasting and prayer.
Then, they signed the Mayflower Compact:
“In the name of God Almighty, we whose names are underwritten…having undertaken for the glory of God, and the advancement of the Christian faith … a voyage to plant the first colony in Northern Virginia (they were in Massachusetts); do by these present, solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick …” (November, 1620)
When you read the Mayflower Compact, you learn why these pilgrims, would leave their homes in the Old World to come to a land that would be called the United States of America.
These pilgrims left civilized Europe for an uncivilized country.
They gave up comfortable homes and the protection of their governments.
They sacrificed everything for religious freedom. ( A prophetic KingdomVision )
- The Pilgrims on the Mayflower were driven by their Christian beliefs.
- They searched for a place they could freely practice their Christianity.
- They wanted a place where their Christianity could be shared with others.
- They did not want a nation where the state controlled their church.
It upgraded from Covenant into the Constitution by Declaration.
Our American forefathers made a covenant with God in the Mayflower Compact. In the founding of this nation, our forefathers made other covenants with God such as the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and other contracts.
There is an invocation of a divine witness, namely, “the Supreme Judge of the world” and “Divine Providence.” There are indirect statements of blessings and curses. The blessings for performance are national independence and individual life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The curses for non-performance are tyranny, oppression, and even death.
They agreed to honor Him, and in return, they expected God to bless them and their endeavors.
In a covenant, each side makes a promise to the other.
Each commits himself to the other.
These covenants with Jehovah were made by our founders.
They believed all people received their inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from God.
America has relied on this covenant relationship with God over the years: America prayed and fasted in times of war and national emergency.
America has claim to be one nation under God in its slogans.
America has “In God We Trust” on its coins.
America inaugurates its presidents with a hand on the Bible and the elected president pledges, “So help me God.”
The occasion was the dedication of the Temple that David had desired to build for God, but that Solomon was the one to build (1 Chronicles 28:3). Solomon prayed to God for blessing and favor on his people and on this holy dwelling place.
God responded to Solomon with these words and others, reiterating his promises of blessings according to the covenant made previously with their fathers.
2 Chronicles 7:14
“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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
God had plans to bless them from the very beginning, and he even had contingencies in place for their lapses in obedience. Here God was providing for their eventual return, assuming that the human heart is prone to wander and cannot help but stray. He makes a promise that when they do stray, if they will only repent in truth, God will always hear and forgive them. Especially for this occasion was the promise that, though he doesn’t really dwell in a man-made construction, he will do so for the sake of his people.
God loves to forgive the truly repentant heart. He will always forgive one who is truly sorry and sincere in their repentance. He knows our weaknesses, and while he calls us to perfection, he has sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ to save us from our sins and bring us into peace with him.
Let me give you a little backstory. Lately, I have grieved in my heart and spirit over the prophecies many have been speaking of a coming civil war to America.
Added to that concern is the credible report that some of our political parties are threatening to rebel against whatever the results of the coming election turn out to be. They say, “Unless I get my way, I will rebel!” I love my country, and the possibility of greater division and war in the streets is totally unacceptable. This voice of rebellion is that of an ignorant child not a democratic republic. These rumors have stirred in my spirit the declaration, “Not on my watch!”
PRAY THE PLEDGE
As I was asking the Father what could be done and what I should pray, I felt like I heard, “Pray the Pledge.” For those of you who might not know, the Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892. When I was a child, every day at the start of the school day, all school children in America would face the flag, put hand over heart, and recite these words from memory:
It is like the allegory of Song of Solomon,
Song of Solomon 5:2
“I slept, but my heart was awake…”
The heart of sleeping America can be awakened by the prayers of the faithful. The pledge of millions of children, now adults, is an ancient door that can be awakened through prayer.
Psalm 24:7
“Lift up your head, O you gates!
And be lifted up, you ancient doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.”
AMOS SAW DESTRUCTION AND CHANGED THE FUTURE WITH PRAYER
If a Civil War-type spirit or assignment has been released against our country, then let’s do everything we can to stop it. Let’s intervene for the best possible outcome. In the book of the shepherd-prophet Amos, the Lord showed him a vision of a swarm of locusts stripping the land clean at the time of the king’s harvest. Amos responded to what God showed him by crying out,
Amos 7:1-9
“’Sovereign Lord, forgive! How can Jacob survive? He is so small!’ And the Lord declared that this would not happen. Next the Lord showed Amos a vision of a judgment by fire that dried up the great deep and devoured the land, but Amos again begged for a different outcome.”
I’ve got to be honest, I don’t know or see what the future of America holds; it is hidden from me. But if a Civil War-like plot has been devised against our nation, shouldn’t we stand up for a different outcome? Let’s not take a posture of “wait and see.” If Amos under the Old Covenant could intervene and intercede for a different outcome, how much more do we have the right to do so under the blood covenant of the Lord Jesus Christ? Let us stand up with hand over heart and pray the Pledge. We will not be divided! We are one nation, and we are under God! Whether the public recognizes or acknowledges these truths does not change the fact that they are true!
I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS
ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE,
WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL