Faith of Our Fathers

A Secular Attack
● Christian ideals must be destroyed and replaced
with what the people think best.
● Revisionism has been used to sanitize
Christianity from our Founding Fathers.

204 signers of the major documents for independence

 A Wall of Separation
● Revisionist suggest that Jefferson in his
Danbury letters intended a “Wall of Separation
between religion and the state”.
● “Separation” became a rallying cry and was
used in several Supreme Court cases, although
the idea of a wall of separation was never found
in the Constitution.
● The Library of Congress explains the Danbury
letter as a POLITICAL LETTER to shame the
opposing political party, after a draft of the letter
was found and analyzed.
● http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danbury.html
 Behind the Danbury Letter
● The Library of Congress says that in a letter,
Jefferson told Lincoln.... "saying why I do not
proclaim fastings & thanksgivings, as my
predecessors did" and latched onto the Danbury
address as the best way to broadcast his views on
the subject. Although using the Danbury address
was "awkward" -- it did not mention fasts and
thanksgivings -- Jefferson pressed it into service
to counter what he saw as an emerging Federalist
plan to exploit the thanksgiving day issue to
smear him, once again, as an infidel.
● So his letter was in defense of himself.
www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9806/danbury.html
 Faith of Our Fathers
● Three founding documents:
– Declaration of Independence
– Articles of Confederation
– The Constitution
● There were 204 individuals involved in these
founding documents.
● Only 4 out of the 204 founders of this nation were of
questionable Christian belief. Two were Unitarian
and two Deists but still identified with religion.
– John Adams & Robert Paine /Unitarian (Congregational)
– Thomas Jefferson & Ben Franklin were Deists (Episcopal)
– http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html
 Religious Quotes
●
Listen to John Adams:
– The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence
were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then
believed, and now believe, that those general principles of
Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and
attributes of God.
●
Listen to Benjamin Franklin:
– As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire,
I think the system of morals and His religion as He left them to us, the
best the world ever saw or is likely to see.
●
Listen to Thomas Jefferson:
– The practice of morality being necessary for the well being of society,
He [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our
hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We
all agree in the obligation of the moral principles of Jesus and
nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in His
discourses.
 Religious Quotes
●
Listen to George Washington:
– It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and
humbly to implore his protection and favor.
●
Listen to James Madison:
– Before any man can be considered as a member of civil society,
he must be considered as a subject of the Governor of the
Universe.
●
Listen to John Quincy Adams:
– Is it not that in the chain of human events, the birthday of the
nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? -
that if forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel
dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first
organized the social compact on the foundation of the
Redeemer's mission upon earth? - laying the cornerstone of
human government upon the first precepts of Christianity?
 Sincerity of Faith

● I can in no way attest to the Christian sincerity

of the signers to the ideas of freedom &
independence.
● Surely as it is with many politicians, some of the
early founders of this nation said what people
wanted to hear.
● In the case of many of these founding fathers,
neighbors, friends, family, and even enemies
spoke of their great Christian character and
courage.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=8755
 Challenge to Our Founding Faith
● Our founding fathers saw a freedom from
religion, not of religion.
– Governments determined what religion you would have
and it was called a STATE RELIGION.
– Our founding fathers did not want a STATE RELIGION,
but freedom to practice their chosen religion.
– When our founding fathers used RELIGION, they meant a
Christian Faith.
● Today, there is the imposition of a STATE
RELIGION.
– The state is defining religion, persecuting & punishing
ideas they find disagreeable. (education & political correctness)
– Christianity is detestable and heathen ideas desirable.
 Living in an Adverse World

● The Bible is filled with instruction in living in an

adverse world, but here are some key ideas:
– Love: We perceive the love of God because Christ laid
down his life for us, we should lay down our life for
others. 1Jn 3:16
– Shine: You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill
that cannot be hidden; you don't put a light under a bowl
in your room, but rather on a lamp stand so it can give
light to everyone. Make your light shine, so that others
will see the good that you do and will praise your Father
in heaven. Mt 6:14-16
–
 Living in an Adverse World

● The Bible is filled with instruction in living in an

adverse world, but here are some key ideas:
– Speak: How can people have faith in the Lord and ask him
to save them, if they have never heard about him? And how
can they hear, unless someone tells them? And how can
anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The
Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of
someone coming to preach the good news.
– Forgive: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my
word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will
do to you on account of my name, because they do not know
him who sent me. Jn15:18-26 / see Mt 5:11
 Living in an Adverse World
● Review
– Love: People don't want to be around someone who is
judgmental, critical, bitter, angry, or contentious. You can
disagree in a way that is loving.
– Shine: Paint a vision that is filled with hope, that is
rescuing, that is redeeming, that is saving.
– Speak: How to speak can be summed up in the words:
lovingly, truthfully, honestly, sincerely, graciously;
remembering that you are announcing the GOOD NEWS.
– Forgive: Persecution and ridicule come from ignorance.
Expect people who are spiritually ignorant to attack you. Be
forgiving, be loving, remember Christ is at work. If they reject
your message, they reject Christ's message.
 Closing Observations
● It is not that government has failed its citizens
for the framework of government delivered to
this nation was based upon Christian ideals,
instead; it is that the citizens of this nation has
failed its government in keeping a strong
Christian faith once delivered to them by Godly
men.
● John Quincy Adams said it best: “...the
cornerstone of human government was laid
upon the precepts of Christianity.”
● Join me in calling men into relationship with
Christ, to return to the Christian principles upon
which all government must be laid.
Faith of Our Fathers
Part 2
 Review
● It is not that government has failed its citizens
for the framework of government delivered to
this nation was based upon Christian ideals,
instead; it is that the citizens of this nation has
failed its government in keeping a strong
Christian faith once delivered to them by Godly
men.
● John Quincy Adams said it best: “...the
cornerstone of human government was laid
upon the precepts of Christianity.”
● Four Biblical ways to defeat an adverse world:
Love, Shine, Speak, Forgive.
 Attack on Freedom of Speech
● Two students complained that staff & faculty
had expressed religious views off-campus, such
as dinners to honor school workers.
● The ACLU sued and the district settled, entering
into a CONSENT DECREE, they agreed to pay
the ACLU $200,000 in legal fees, no religious
speech can be used either on campus or outside
of campus, Christian groups cannot rent school
facilities, and school events such as religious
baccalaureate services held in churches must
follow strict guidelines to speech directed to the
students.
 Secular Thinking
● On April 15th, a federal district court in
Wisconsin ruled that the National Day of Prayer
was unconstitutional.
● Secularists insist on practical atheism as the
only neutral, legitimate public philosophy.
● Any reference to God or morality, transgresses
the boundaries of church and state.
● This week, the governor of Kansas issued an
executive order protecting pastors from
lawsuits. He was of rescinding rules that
protected discrimination.
 Secular Thinking

● Forced by the court to pay a gay couple

$135,000, they were to undergo re-education. An
injunction was placed against them, saying that
they could not speak to anyone about not
wanting to bake for gay couples because of their
Christian beliefs.
Secular Thinking

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Secular Thinking

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Secular Thinking

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 Isaiah's Call to Repentance
● The first part of Isaiah chapter six is one of the
most preached on passages in the Bible.
● Who hasn't heard, “I saw the Lord, He was high
and lifted up and His train filled the temple”.
● Still, the major thrust of Isaiah 6, seems to
escape most sermons on the passage.
● It is a message about the Holiness of God, the
wickedness of man, and the transformation of
man through by the Spirit of God.
● And rightly so, it is about the call of God and our
willingness to go, but there is so much more to
this passage that is missed.
 Looking to the Mission
● The first part of Isaiah chapter six is one of the
most preached on passages in the Bible.
● Who hasn't heard, “I saw the Lord, He was high
and lifted up and His train filled the temple”.
● Still, the major thrust of Isaiah 6, seems to
escape most sermons on the passage.
● It is a message about the Holiness of God, the
wickedness of man, and the transformation of
man through by the Spirit of God.
● And rightly so, it is about the call of God and our
willingness to go, but there is so much more to
this passage that is missed.
 Looking Deeper in Isaiah 6
Then the Lord told me to go and speak this
message to the people:
“You will listen and listen, but never understand.
You will look and look, but never see.”

The Lord also said,

“Make these people stubborn! Make them stop up
their ears, cover their eyes, and fail to
understand. Don’t let them turn to me and be
healed.”

Isaiah 6:9-10
 The Principle of Strong Delusion
And for this reason God will send them strong
delusion, that they should believe the lie, that
they all may be condemned who did not believe
the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
2 Thessalonians 2:11-12

● When people refuse the truth God sends to

them “strong delusion” so that they believe
their own lies.
● Romans 1:18 says: “For the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who by their
unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
 Looking Deeper in Isaiah 6
Then I asked the Lord, “How long will this last?”
The Lord answered:
Until their towns are destroyed and their houses
are deserted, until their fields are empty, and I
have sent them far away, leaving their land in
ruins. If only a tenth of the people are left, even
they will be destroyed.
Isaiah 6:11-13

God, being just, must let death that comes from

believing a lie reign. Ro 6:23 says, the wages of
sin (missing the mark) is death....
 A Remnant in Isaiah 6
But just as stumps remain after trees have been cut
down, some of my chosen ones will be left. v.14

Isaiah is speaking of what emerges from destruction.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one
already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on
this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood,
hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is,
because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed
with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s
work. If what has been built survives, the builder will
receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer
loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one
escaping through the flames. 1Co 3:11-15
 Faith of Our Fathers
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to
political prosperity, Religion and Morality are
indispensable supports….Let it simply be asked,
Where is the security for property, for reputation,
for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert
the oaths, which are the instruments of
investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with
caution indulge the supposition that morality can
be maintained without religion. Whatever may be
conceded to the influence of refined education on
minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience
both forbid us to expect that National morality can
prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”
– George Washington, Farewell Address 1796
 Faith of Our Fathers
“The name of the Lord (says the Scripture) is a strong tower;
thither the righteous flee and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Let us
secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this
life and at length receive us to a better.”

– Samuel Adams
“The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it
connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil
government with the principles of Christianity.”

– John Adams

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious

people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

– John Adams
 Faith of Our Fathers
It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too
often that this great Nation was founded not by
religionists, but by Christians; not on religions,
but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
– Patrick Henry

Providence has given to our people the choice

of their rulers, and it is their duty – as well as
privilege and interest – of our Christian nation to
select and prefer Christians for their rulers.
– John Jay (First Chief Justice of Supreme Court)
 Concluding Thoughts
● Christians in the United States are being
persecuted for their beliefs.
● What people are calling evil is good and
what people are calling good is evil. Isa
5:20
● God will send strong delusion as people
believe their own lies.
● Lies (untruth) always brings death.
● The church is to speak PROPHETICALLY.
● Out of destruction will grow a remnant.
Faith of Our Fathers
Part 3
 Review
● There is an attack against the values upon which
our constitution was written and our nation was
founded.
● Revisionists seek to rewrite history by labeling
the founding fathers of this nation secularists
and deists.
● Numerous documents at the Library of
Congress simply don't support the ideas of the
revisionists, but rather point to a nation of
Christians who desired the free practice of their
Christian religion and in no way can the word
“religion” be equated to anything other than
Christianity.
 Review
● It is not that government has failed its citizens
for the framework of government delivered to
this nation was based upon Christian ideals,
instead; it is that the citizens of this nation has
failed its government in keeping a strong
Christian faith once delivered to them by Godly
men.
● John Quincy Adams said it best: “...the
cornerstone of human government was laid
upon the precepts of Christianity.”
● Four Biblical ways to defeat an adverse world:
Love, Shine, Speak, Forgive.
 Review
● Today, a series of attacks have been leveled at
Christianity and the values for which Christians
stand.
● We reviewed “Sweet Cakes”, the firing of the
Atlanta Georgia Fire Chief, the removal of a
monument of the ten commandments from the
Oklahoma State House, and HGTV's firing the
Benham brothers because they had Christian
beliefs.
● The Principle of Strong Delusion - Isa 6:9-10, 2
Thes 2:11-12, and Ro 1:18
● God's judgment and the Remnant of Isaiah 6
 The Church Must Speak
●
If the life of Christ is to prevail, the church must
speak.
●
When the church speaks, those who refuse to hear
become more accursed and those who listen find life
eternal.
●
Ephesians 2:1-5; Colossians 2:12-13
●
In Ephesians 6, Paul talks about putting on the FULL
ARMOR OF GOD, and then tells HOW WE BATTLE in
verse 19-20, “making supplication for all the saints, and
also for me, that words may be given to me in opening
my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the
gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I
may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
 The Invitation to the Feast
● In Luke 14, Jesus tells us the story of a wedding
feast that is taking place at the Great Banquet of
God's Kingdom.
● Guest are invited, but are too busy to come.
They have fields to plow, have just gotten
married, and so forth.
● The master tell his servants, “Go to every street in
town and bring those who are crippled, blind, or
lame. Then go to the back roads and fence rows
and make people come in, so my house will be full.
Not one of the guest I first invited will get a bite
of my food.”
 The Message of Hope
Isaiah 55
● Come buy without money and without price.
● Why spend money for that which is not bread
and your labor for what doesn't satisfy?
● Incline your ear, and come to me; hear that your
soul may live; and I will make an everlasting
covenant...
● You shall call a nation that you do not know, and
a nation that you did not know shall run to you,
because of the Lord your God... for he has
glorified you.
 The Message of Hope
Isaiah 55
● Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon
him while he is near.
● Let the wicked forsake his way, and the
unrighteous his thoughts;
● Let him return to the Lord, that he may have
compassion on him, and to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon.
● For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways & my thoughts
than your thoughts.
 The Message of Hope
Isaiah 55
● As the rain and snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to
the sower and bread to the eater,
● So shall my word be that goes out of my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty, but it shall
succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
● You shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you shall
break forth into singing, and all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands.
 The Message of Hope
Isaiah 55
● Instead of the thorn... shall come up the
cypress;
● Instead of the brier... shall come up the myrtle;
● And it shall make a name for the Lord, and
everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.
 Making Isaiah 55 Practical
● Isaiah 55 is our message, our philosophy.
● Don't invite people into a political ideal, move
them to a spiritual ideal first.
● Invite them to join you in a relationship with
Christ, then show them what that looks like.
● Show them how to listen and hear God; show
them how to seek the Lord; show them how to
forsake their way of doing things and how to
overcome unrighteous thoughts; show them how
to return to the Lord.
● Stay beside them until they are fruitful & succeed
Faith of Our Fathers

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 Concluding Thoughts
● You can't legislate morality.
● No law can stop someone whose heart is set on
evil.
● Righteous government is not established by evil
men.
● Godly presidents, senators, and legislators are
not elected by unrighteous people.
● The heritage of our nation and the faith of our
fathers can only be maintained by a spiritual
transformation through the power of Christ.
● We must call people to renewal & repentance.